Flutter By, Butterfly
by Scroodle
Summary: Chouko is ready to spread her wings and enter a new phase of life in which she has just become a ninja. Throughout her journey she'll go through the metamorphosis of life, going from a mere caterpillar to a soaring butterfly.
1. The Birth of Team Seven

**Edit Two: Fixed some grammar mistakes**

**Edit: I forgot the line breaks.**

**A/n:** Holy hell it's been a long time hasn't it? I just basically got exhausted of writing and could never force myself to sit down and write for long. It was pretty much one of the worst cases of writer's block I've ever had. Thankfully, I've slowly crawled out of that funk and am ready to get started writing again! A lot has happened in my absence like I've recently moved which has put a halt on my writing (I wanted to get a story out sooner than this but things happen) but that's all been put aside for now. So, here I am! I missed you all. I'm so thankful for everyone who has stuck by my side during this absence and I hope I'm able to make stories again that kept you around before.

I debated for the longest time over what story I wanted to write first. I bounced back and forth between My Hero Academia, Naruto, and One Piece and finally settled on naruto as it's one of the stories I had the most fun writing and one of the stories you all enjoyed the most. I went through so many revisions of this story and juggled so many concept ideas - there's like twenty different versions of "Chouko" in my documents but in the end, I always came back to the original version of herself with a few improvements and added changes.

In this story, there will be things that are changed. Smalls things. One of the things at the moment I'm most confident in changing is Neji's death. I'm still bitter over the loss of Neji if you can't tell. Sakura also won't be reduced to a damsel in distress in this story - none of the girls will. Seriously, everyone female in the series was so bland and was only used to pump up the male characters, and where's the fun in that?

I want to write stories for the movies, too! I think that those could be a lot of fun and I even had an idea for my own movie spin-off eventually.

This first chapter is pretty long! There's new content, there's old content - you get the drill! Chapters won't always be this long. I just usually go overboard with the first chapter lol.

_**WARNING:**_The story will have gay relationships. I've said this before but if you read the words gay and think of some big, gay, orgy fetish fic, then you need some help, immediately. Go read a harem if that's what you want. _Do something._ I swear half the people on this site use gay/lesbian relationships like a fucking kink or fetish, and it's annoying. As someone who is a part of the LGBT+ community, it bugs me when people treat it this way. So let me repeat that this story will have gay relationships, gay, as in two people of the same sex who love each other. So if you don't agree with homosexual relationships, or only like homosexual relationships when they are fucking

_This story is not for you._

I'll admit it right now that I hate the pairings in Naruto. They're incredibly bland. They could have been something if they were actually developed and weren't sloppily shoved together in the end.

As a sort of side not please understand that Shikamaru and Chouko's relationship isn't going to blossom in a day. It's pretty much going to non-existent for an extended time. The relationship between Shikamaru and Chouko is mutual friends, who connected through Choji. At the moment, there are no rotating feelings between either of them, not even a crush.

It's still early, and I don't want to rush these kids into a relationship in three chapters. I want to gradually build it up so that when it happens it makes sense and it's satisfying.

Also, there is for future reference there is no relationship between Chouko and Kakashi. You can read it as her having a crush on him or whatever, but there won't be anything like that. If anything, the two have a very playful and sibling-like relationship, with Kakashi being something akin to an annoying older brother in her eyes, that she begrudgingly admires. Just a lot of teasing moments that I can't help but write because I find it adorable. I like the banter between these two and I just don't want people to misinterpret that.

As a final warning, I am in no way a professional writer. I make a hell of a lot of mistakes and sometimes write weirdly, to me, at the very least. It's also been quite some time since I published anything or sat down to write, so I might be a little rusty. Please be kind as I am trying my best to give you a story to enjoy and take part in.

Lastly, please, please, don't badger me to update the story at every given chance. That's one of the worst things you can do as it makes me anxious and I feel like I have to rush the story and then I get sloppy.

Allow me to take my time, please. That's all I ask.

**Story Summary:** Chouko is ready to spread her wings and enter a new phase of life in which she has just become a ninja. Throughout her journey she'll go through the metamorphosis of life, going from a mere caterpillar to a soaring butterfly.

* * *

_"The wings of transformation are born of patience and struggle."_ \- Janet S. Dickens

_"Chouko! Hey, Chouko! Get up, idiot!"_

Eight-year-old Akimichi Chinaru stared impatiently at the unmoving lump of blanket that was his older sister. The young boy balled his hands into fists tapping his bare feet against the wooden floor. The boy let out a long, exaggerated sigh that had him pulling at his messy, spiky dark brown hair. His topaz narrowed dangerously at the fortitude of blankets and pillows that his older sister was currently buried inside. The boy stared a minute longer before a devious smile crawled its way on his face, hands rubbing together like a maniacal villain who just thought of the world's most sinister plan.

The boy reared backward and did a small hop-step before charging the bed fort with a loud battle cry that could wake anyone with the near vicinity. With all the might an eight-year-old child could must he rammed the mighty mountain that toppled over with a girly shriek as the fort came crashing down on the floor in a pile of tangled limbs.

Out from the pile rose a chubby-faced young girl with a head full of spiked, messy, light brown hair. The one with the bed-head groaned as the sudden intrusion of morning light filled her seafoam colored eyes forcing her to shut them tightly, and then slowly reopen them in a drunken sleep state. Tired eyes scanned the room for the one who dares interrupt her sleep, narrowing in on a chubby young boy laughing to the point he was red in the face and unable to make any other noise than drawn-out wheezes.

The girl grumbled under her breath and untangled herself from her bedding. "Ha-ha, you're hilarious, Chinaru." The girl spat sarcastically as she slowly pushed herself away from the floor and stood with a sleepy yawn. "Now knock the laughing off before I tear out your voice box."

Chinaru's laughter stuttered as he took in his sister's deadly, bleary eyes. He instead focused his attention on the cluttered mess of a floor as he whistles innocently, twiddling his fingers and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"What are you doing in here anyway? What did I say about coming in my room uninvited, you little jerk."

Chinaru stared at his sister as if she had grown another head. "Huh, are you dumb? Have you seriously forgot what today is?" Her dumbfounded stare told him all that he needed to know. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Seriously, Chouko? You're pretty stupid for someone so smart."

"Are you going to answer me or not?!" Chouko snapped with a scowl to her words.

"You're a ninja now, stupid. Your team assignment is today, isn't it? It would suck to show up and find that your team abandoned you because you were too busy sleeping, huh?"

Chouko processed his words slowly for what felt like a long time but was only a moment. When the words finally seemed to click she walked over to her brother wordlessly and before he could ask what she was doing, she had roughly shoved him out of her room and onto his rear in the hallway, slamming the door in his face and walking away from his muffled screaming.

She walked to the center of her room, sucked in a breath, and then let out a yell of frustration as she hurried over to her closet and began to rip out her clothes in search of the outfit her mother had bought for her, specifically for this day. Chouko fought with her wardrobe before successfully pulling out the large box that contained all her new ninja gear that had been a present from her parents for passing the exam, which was fairly easy in her opinion.

Chouko gently pulled out the items and laid them on her bed and then began to dress. She changed from her shorts and oversized shirt into an orange, sleeveless cheongsam with red trimming that fell to her knee with high slits on the side that would allow her to move comfortably. The cheongsam had a pretty pattern on it made of white petal blossoms and small butterflies that her mother had said specifically reminded her of Chouko.

The thought made Chouko smile as she tugged on a pair of black spandex leggings that stopped just short of her ankles. She pulled her sandals from the box and plopped them on her feet. She rolled a bit of bandage over her thighs that were then covered by her new weapon pouches that she proudly wore on both of her legs. She then took the leftover bandage and applied them to her arms, purely for aesthetic reasons, finishing by tugging on a pair of black fingerless gloves.

All the coolest ninja did it.

Lastly, she pulled out the white obi with yellow ribbon and tied it around her waist, and finally, tying a giant yellow ribbon into her hair that had been gifted to her when she was a kid by a friend, or rather, a former friend.

Chouko sighed tying her forehead protector around her neck and sparing a glance in her bedroom mirror. A tan-skinned face marked by orange rectangles on her cheeks, and seafoam eyes stared back at her. She looked down at her outfit that fit her chubby body snuggly making her frown. Her mother and father had taken extra care to make sure the outfit fit her body just right, but Chouko still couldn't help but wonder if it was okay for her to wear something like this. Truthfully, the outfit fir her perfectly, but Chouko would always nitpick over the smallest details about herself.

No matter how perfect the outfit was, she would only ever see the flaws.

Chouko sighed and decided to leave her bedroom, not wanting to show up to the academy with a cloud floating over her head. She passed through the hallway and headed into the kitchen where she knew her family had gathered by now for breakfast. She ignored her brother glaring daggers at her while stuffing his face with egg, not even bothering to wipe away the flecks of rice plastered to his chubby cheeks.

She snickered grabbing a washcloth and aggressively rubbing the rice from his face as he cursed her under his breath, arms flailing around like a distressed wild animal.

"You're welcome!" She quipped taking her place at the table.

The boy angrily blew a raspberry at her while flicking a stray piece of rice straight at her forehead. Chouko hissed and reached out to strangle the small child when she sensed a deadly aura behind her. She slowly craned her neck to see eyes like her staring back in a scrutinized glare that had her body going to stiff. Chouko gulped as she felt her mother's chakra, normally even and calm, fluctuate in a warning.

Akimichi Chihagi smirked seeing her daughter back down and bow her head in apology. She laughed lightly under her breath, tossing her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder. Chihagi like her daughter has seafoam green eyes, and even shares the same rectangular markings on her cheeks as her daughter, though unlike her family she doesn't share their robust form. She leans towards being curvy with a little bit of extra, proudly showing even under the light dress she wore with an apron thrown casually over top, slippers poking out from beneath.

"There's my sleepy little caterpillar! We didn't think you were ever going to join us for breakfast."

Chouko groaned hearing the booming voice. "Dad, that's so lame!" Chouko sighed. "I'm a ninja now. Not some little kid." She grumbled, drawing shapes on the table.

She glanced over at a large, robust man with wild, long, spiked dark brown hair, and brightly lit topaz eyes that were crinkled in a smile. The man scratched at his rounded stomach and walked towards her mother, gently placing a kiss on her cheek before taking his seat at the head of the table. He casually leaned back in his seat greeting his children with morning pleasantries that they returned in kind.

"What time did you got to bed last night, Chou?" Her mother asked turning back to her cooking. "You're not one to carelessly sleep in on a day of importance." She glanced over her shoulder back at her daughter who let out a tired yawn.

"I'm not sure. I was woken up by the alarms." Chouko hummed remembering how the alarms had gone off the night before. "After that, I had a hard time falling back asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about today. We're being assigned our official teams and we're going to meet out Sensei, too. I kind of hope I get on Kurenai's team."

"That would be nice." Chihagi smiled. "She's practically like an aunt to you at this point."

Chihagi and Kurenai have been close friends since their youth. The bond between them has always been strong, and Kurenai has been in Chouko and Chinaru's lives since they were babies. However, Chihagi and Chousei had already met with Chouko's Sensei, and she knew he wouldn't quite be what her daughter expected, or hoped for.

"Kurenai's an amazing kunoichi! I'm going to be just like her one day!" Chouko grinned. "I would have minded being on Asuma-Sensei's team either, though."

"You're too lame for Asuma." Chinaru grumbled, still tenderly rubbing at his sore face.

Chouko stuck her tongue out at him and told him to shut his pie hole.

"Asuma is a fine shinobi and one the best the Leaf has to offer!" Chousei boomed proudly. "Though I've heard that he'll be leading this generation Ino-Shika-Cho formation..."

The Ino-Shika-Cho formation is a technique developed by members of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans, developed after their long history of working together. It's a formation designed to bring out the abilities of each clan and bring them together in flawless unison. It would only make sense that the tradition is passed down to kids of the head of the clan.

Chouko snickered at her father's crestfallen face. He was only upset because he and Asuma like her mother and Kurenai are also friends, and her father takes great admiration in him. She would bet her life that her father had hoped she'd be placed on his team for bragging rights.

Her mother chided her father playfully before setting a plate of tamagoyaki and rice before her. Chouko's mouth salivated at the smell of the food as she eagerly dug in, finishing in record-breaking time as her mother handed her another dish, affectionately ruffling her hair. Chouko was incredibly biased when it came to her mother's cooking, finding it to be the best thing in the world and that nothing compared to it.

When Chouko had her fill she said her goodbyes to her family. She grabbed her lunch bento from her mother and rushed out the door towards the academy where a bundle of nerves danced around her stomach.

She wondered what her new team would be like.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru was in usual seat at the academy that had quickly become his favorite. It made it easy for him to nod off when class got too boring and was in a position situated from the rowdier and loudest of the bunch, minus one who sat opposite of him - the loud-mouthed Yamanaka Ino, while the other side was occupied by his best friend, Akimichi Choji, who was snacking away on his barbecue chips while listening to Ino ramble on about pointless nonsense that neither cared about. Shikamaru yawned scanning the classroom with the same tired expression he always wore on his face. They were going to be assigned their squads today and meet their Sensei for the time. It was all pointless to Shikamaru since he could easily tell who would be grouped. The most obvious of all was his team, who would carry on the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, while their Sensei would mostly likely hail from the Sarutobi clan. It wouldn't be too burdensome if they didn't have Ino's loudmouth to deal with, no doubt bound to get them in trouble whenever given the chance.

Anyone who knew Shikamaru would know that he would rather be at home in bed, or even playing Shogi with his father, anywhere but here, listening to Ino and Haruno Sakura argue tirelessly back and forth about who would be paired with Uchiha Sasuke.

It was Sakura, that much Shikamaru could guarantee.

Ino wouldn't be happy about it.

What did the girls of their age even seen in that guy? He was cold to everyone and rude. In all the years they've attended the academy together he barely even acknowledges them and yet, every girl in the vicinity wanted to marry him for reasons that were unknown even to someone like Shikamaru.

Well, maybe not _everyone._

There were a few girls that ignored the boy. The Hyuuga girl, Hinata, was one but Shikamaru felt it hardly counted since everyone with eyes could see she was head over heels in love with Uzumaki Naruto. Shikamaru felt some form of pity for the girl, knowing someone like Naruto had no real interest in her, and that her feelings would go unrequited. _Maybe in an alternate timeline._ Shikamaru puffed out a sigh and looked elsewhere around the room for someone of interest and found them as they came rushing into the room out of breath and singing a song of curses. He ignored the chorus of laughter aimed at the girl as his head tilted, watching her scurry over to an unoccupied seat with her head ducked and a blush set on her tanned face.

When she made it to her seat she slouched down and cradled her chubby cheeks in her hands, looking around the class as if waiting for someone. Shikamaru knew the girl. Akimichi Chouko, the distant cousin of Chouko and one of the quieter girls of their class...sometimes, she did have her moments when she was around a certain blond-haired ball of hyperactivity.

Chouko to Shikamaru was one of the cuter girls in the class. She wasn't too pretty and wasn't too ugly, which to Shikamaru was good enough when it came to his taste in girls, not that he considered the idea of dating at the moment. From what he knew about Chouko was that she mostly kept to herself. She wasn't shy, she just didn't interact with many, except for one obnoxious blonde that everyone else went out of their way to avoid. She didn't bother anyone and in return, no one bothered her (minus two annoying fangirls) and she seemed happy that way, even now as she looked out the window, watching the clouds pass by. It was a habit she most likely picked up spending time with him and Choji back when they were kids, though she slowly drifted from the two in recent years.

Chouko was a wild card to Shikamaru. He never knew what to expect from her. She was someone who always tried to stay calm and collected, someone who brought balance and a sense of calm where she went, and then she had her moments where that would crumble, and she would let loose and let everything she had been holding in out in a spur of the moment frenzy, that she always seemed to regret and mull over later.

She was complicated, but it was far from a bad thing.

It was almost as if she could feel him staring at her as she turned around and looked directly into his eyes. Shikamaru froze. What did he do now? She had already caught him so looking away would be pointless, but he didn't feel like making awkward and pointless conversation, either.

_What a drag._

He mulled over his choices in his head only snapping from his thoughts when he heard a quiet laugh from her. She gave him a smile and a wave and she quickly turned back to what she was doing with a pleasant smile on her face. Shikamaru blinked. If that had been any other girl like Ino or Sakura they would have gotten mad at him for staring or called him out on it. Then again, Chouko wasn't like that.

She wasn't one for stirring up drama or one who got a kick out of it.

She was just...different, somehow.

Shikamaru's lips curled into a smile and he turned his attention back the front of the room.

He liked different.

* * *

Chouko had arrived to class later than she would have liked out of breath from rushing to get to the academy. Little beads of sweat threaded her eyebrows as she scurried to an empty desk while ignoring the taunting jabs of people who had nothing better to do with their time. She sighed slumping down in her desk, resting her face in her hands as she looked around the room for her source of entertainment who had yet to show.

Chouko pouted turning her attention to the outside view. The sky was the perfect shade of blue with the puffiest clouds they had seen in days. Chouko spent her passing time making them into shapes, sometimes games if she were bored enough. In truth, she was just giving herself a distraction from the anxieties she was beginning to feel.

She was a ninja now. After today her life was officially going to change forever...for better, or worse. All morning she had been thinking about the team she'd be placed on and the Sensei they'd be given. She had been praying she wouldn't be put on a team with Sasuke's biggest fangirls being Sakura and Ino. She and Sakura didn't get along at all and while her relationship with Ino was tolerable, she didn't think she'd be able to stand listening to her nagging all the time while also having to deal with her bossy attitude.

Chouko sighed and found herself being lured away from the comfort of the window. She froze when she felt her neck stiffen and her body tense. A tingle of a sensation pricked at her skin telling her that something wasn't right. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant this feeling, no, there was no sense of foreboding or threat of danger.

It felt rather relaxing in fact.

A feeling that put her at ease and made her body relax.

The feel of someone..._lackadaisical._

_Shikamaru._

Chouko turned around in her seat and locked eyes with the Nara boy who looked like a deer caught in the middle of the woods. His expression of being caught off guard was cute and Chouko had to stifle a laugh. Shikamaru was no doubt the smartest kid in the whole academy, and the laziest one too. He had the brains to do anything he put his mind to, but no energy to do it. Still, she liked Shikamaru, she guessed. They used to play as kids, or lounge around on any grass hill they could find with a view of the clouds. Choji had introduced the two. It's been a while since she spent time with him or Choji. Everyone seemed to have drifted apart as they got older and started focusing more on their ninja studies.

She wouldn't mind being placed on a team with him but knew there was no chance of it happening. Choji would be the one to go on to create the newest generation of the 'Ino-Shika-Cho', as he was next to be seated as clan head and really, that suited her just fine.

When he didn't look away Chouko smiled, waved, and turned back to continue her cloud gazing.

"Chouko! Hey Chouko!"

Chouko let out a loud squeak and nearly jumped out of her skin as her arm was sucked into a vice grip, and the feeling of warmth bathed her as the seat next to her was taken. She found herself smiling as the savory scent of tangy ramen filled her nose and hair bright as sunshine blinded her version.

_Naruto._

Chouko smiled, happily leaning into the over bubbly blonde as he babbled on to her at a thousand miles per minute about anything and everything that came to his mind. Uzumaki Naruto, her very best friend. He was a radiant beam of human-sunshine in her dreary life. They had met when they were small. Chouko had always been warned to stay away from him, but his chakra was so warm and inviting that she couldn't help but be curious. How could a boy with such a warm chakra be evil? Against the better wishes of her elders, she had approached the boy and learned more about him and decided, that the adults were stupid and that there was nothing evil or scary about Uzumaki Naruto.

He was only a child, scared, and lonely, who needed a friend.

Chouko didn't have many friends before she met Naruto. There were only a few people who ever played with her that weren't Choji which never really counted in her mind because he's family - family is supposed to do that, right? And by extension, Shikamaru, his best friend. They were always kind to her but Chouko always felt out of place. More often than not she felt more like a tag-along that they felt obligated to let join in. Of course, now, she knows that's not the case, but it's hard to get those feelings out of your mind when you're young and impressionable.

Naruto, on the other hand, has always been dead last of the class. The kid who always got in trouble did poorly in school and spent his time pulling pranks. The village hated him and nobody liked him, nobody played with him, nobody respected him. He was all alone. It was as if that entire village had come together one day and decided to shun him, and Chouko never understood how someone could look at Naruto - _look into those innocent baby blues _\- and say such hurtful things about such a kind and caring soul.

People looked at Chouko differently when she started to be friends with Naruto, but that was fine with her. Naruto was her friend, and the opinion of some snot-nosed adults and bratty kids with a stick up there ass would never change that, ever.

Naruto had such a warmth to him that made her want to believe that anything was possible and that everything would be alright.

"You seem more excited than usual today. What's got you in such high spirits, Naruto?" Chouko turned to face her friend with a palm pressed to her chubby face. "Are you that excited to be assigned a squad?"

Naruto grinned and bobbled his head excitedly. Chouko laughed at him.

"Believe it! I hope I get to be put on a team with Sakura!" Naruto said, a dreamy smile coiling onto his face.

Chouko and the blond glanced down to the first row where a raven-haired boy sits glaring into space before him. Standing beside him was a pink-haired girl who fidgeted nervously as she looks from the boy and to the seat next to him. She seemed to have an inner debate with herself and when she finally settled on taking the seat she was interrupted by a loud, blonde-haired girl which immediately sparked a fight between the two of them. A verbal clash occurred between the two in a battle of who would get to sit next to the angst-ridden boy who could care less about either of them.

The grandest of prizes in a room full of hormonal teenage girls with no self-respect.

Chouko rolled her eyes. Sasuke's fangirls were the worst...but Sakura and Ino, they were on a whole different level. All they ever talked about was Sasuke this and Sasuke that, and frankly, she was sick of hearing it...but, the idea of being attacked by a mass of hormonal teenage girls, didn't appeal to her.

"What does Sakura see in that Uchiha bastard?!" Naruto pouted.

"A pretty face packed with depression." Chouko sighed. "How do I explain this?" Chouko hummed, leaning forward some. "Sakura is still young and immature which is a nice way of saying _'dumb'_. Right now she doesn't fully grasp the concept of romance and only sees a pretty face. Ino, as well as all the other girls, play a part in it too." She pointed Naruto to the crowd of squealing girls. "It's like a race, you see, all of them are fighting to see who will be the one to claim Sasuke's heart, and in doing so some have even managed to trick themselves into believing that they_ love_ him, like Sakura and Ino. But they don't. None of them do. They'll realize this, eventually. Right now they're just young, competitive, and incredibly stupid and questioning themselves."

She looked to Sakura's face that looked a little _too _pink "glaring" at the blonde.

Chouko cast a glance at Naruto to see if he had heard anything she said and of course, he didn't. He continued to stare love-struck at the pink-haired girl. Chouko rolled her eyes with a small shake of her head. She leaned back in her seat and folded her hands in her lap. It was funny because, in many ways, Naruto was the same as Sakura and Ino. He never _really_ had a crush on Sakura, until he found out that _she_ had a crush on Sasuke, and suddenly he was head-over-heels in love with her.

It was ridiculous.

None of them knew was love was. They were all too young and had much more important things to focus on - like trying to survive, in a world filled with a killer ninja who will jump at the chance to add you to their body count.

Morbid, but true.

Chouko jumped as the earlier feeling struck her like a truck. She turned around in her seat to find that Choji and Shikamaru had moved up and were now sitting behind her and Naruto. Shikamaru was leaned forward on the desk lazily holding his head while Choji was munching on a bag of potato chips next to him - barbecue, Chouko was sure.

"That's a better explanation than what I was thinking." The Nara boy said staring at the arguing girls.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Shikamaru glanced at the horde of fangirls and then back to Chouko.

"About that." He said nodding towards them. "That's it's just a big game that no one's aware of, or they aren't acknowledging it. I figured they were all drawn to his cool mysterious facade he's always putting on. Girls like that kind of stuff, don't they?" Shikamaru shrugged.

He never understood the appeal of the lone Uchiha, but then again, he never really cared all that much to look more into it, either.

"Don't look at me for the answer. Girls are complicated - _coming from a girl_. I mean I kind of get it but at the same time I don't." Chouko laughed. "It's pretty rude though to go and assume that all girls are the same, Shikamaru."

"Don't tell me you're going to start nagging me too." The Nara boy sighed. "You girls are so troublesome." He smirked, reaching into Choji's bag of chips and grabbing one for himself and tossing the other to Chouko. "I guess you're not as bothersome, sometimes. You can get pretty loud when you're around Naruto though."

Chouko snatched the chip with a smile and tossed it into her mouth. "Wow, I'm so flattered." She rolled her eyes playfully as she turned back around in her seat feeling her anxieties from earlier disperse as she idly traded banter back and forth with the group of boys.

It reminded her of when they were kids, and they would all play together. It was usually herself, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba with the addition of Akamaru, and Naruto, who she would drag along with her. It made her nervous at first how the others would react to him, but they never treated him badly or pushed him away - Kiba and Naruto would argue over dumb things, but he was far from malicious to him - and she could see how happy it made Naruto, to be able to play with the others kids without having to worry about getting beat up or bullied.

Chouko smiled thinking about the past and before she knew it time had flown by and Iruka-Sensei had strolled into the classroom. Chouko had fallen asleep during this time and was awoken by Choji giving her a poke in the back. She woke with a jolt, and drool dribbling down her chin. She was snapped awake hearing the laughter from her classmates, and quickly wiped the drool from her face and ducked her head from their vision to hide the rosy blush on her chubby cheeks.

She would remember to go to bed _extra_ early tonight.

Chouko only half-listened to everything Iruka-Sensei was telling them. All she cared about was learning about who she'd be grouped with, and she prayed to every God above that she wouldn't get stuck with someone like Sasuke. She didn't hate Sasuke. She wouldn't say she didn't like him, either, she didn't know how she felt him anymore. As a kid, he was cheerful and innocent but after everything that happened, he became cold and cruel and looked down on everyone. His chakra used to be so calm, like that of a river flowing perfectly through him but now, it was more like a rushing torrent waiting to burst through him at any given moment.

She would admit that Sasuke would make a powerful ally. He was incredibly skilled and the best in their class for a reason. He was someone you wanted on your side and didn't want to make an enemy out of.

"We tried our best to make sure the teams were balanced however due to an error in student counting there will be one team with an uneven amount of students." Said Iruka. "Okay, the next team is Team Seven..." Iruka-sensei continued to read trailing off as he went over the names.

Chouko perked up slightly.

"Haruno Sakura."

Haruno Sakura was one of Sasuke's biggest fangirls and supporters. Her obsession with the boy was annoying, even if it was just a stupid game she wouldn't admit to with her dying breath. Chouko didn't like her all that much anymore. That and Sakura had never really excelled in much, that she has seen in recent years. She was pretty much average though when she thought hard about it, she was pretty smart, and picked up on things quickly. She knew Sakura had potential. She had seen it, and it's being wasted on something as petty as a pretty boy.

Sakura wouldn't be a bad comrade to have if you distanced her from Sasuke and forced her to work on improving.

Chouko was someone that Sakura liked to put down to build herself up. Chouko tried to excuse it thinking that perhaps Sakura had her deep-rooted issues and it was easier to take it out on her, but whenever she started to put down Naruto, that's when Chouko stepped in.

Make fun of her all you want but never Naruto. She wouldn't stand around and let him be bullied if she could help in some way.

Even if the whole village was against him she would always remain by his side.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Chouko had to plug her ears when Naruto let out a horrendous scream of excitement. Once he had calmed down she removed her hands from her ears with a frown on her face. There was no chance of her being paired with Naruto now since the squads were always three-man cells with one female and two males. It was rare that a four-man cell was established, and even then there was usually only one female. So knowing that she wouldn't be able to grow as a ninja with her best friend had damaged her mood greatly. The idea of being teamed with Naruto was one of the main selling points of her wanting to become a ninja.

They're supposed to be ninja buddies, damn it!

_'Now what? Naruto and I promised to become ninja together.'_ Chouko thought to herself.

She would have been ashamed of the pouty face she was making, had not her ninja dreams just been crushed.

Naruto frowned when he saw how crestfallen Chouko looked. He was excited to be on a team with Sakura, but it wouldn't be the same without Chouko. Naruto sighed and leaned against Chouko, something he had grown accustomed to doing since they were kids. Chouko always said his chakra was warm even if he didn't know what that meant, and Naruto thought Chouko had the perfect bod for cuddling.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura was the one cheering now. Chouko felt sorry for Naruto. He was paired with his biggest quote-on-quote "rival", and the girl of his delusional little daydream who hated his guts with a burning passion.

_Poor Naruto._

Chouko consoled her friend by running her chubby fingers through his thick, blond hair that was always so soft, and warm. It was like running her fingers through actual sunshine. She smiled lightly, ignoring those who stared at the two of them.

"And finally, Akimichi Chouko. The four of you will make a four-man cell. While it is uncommon, it's not unheard of." Iruka-sensei told them. "You'll have your work cut out for you and have to work hard while minding your Sensei, ya hear? Lord Hokage was very confident in this decision so don't go messing it up!"

They all gave some form of acknowledgment to which Iruka nodded. He looked back down at his clipboard with a frown. He was opposed to the odd team combination but knew better than to question the judgment of the Hokage. Four-Man cells were all but non-existent for a reason but when Iruka had tried to argue this the Hokage had silenced him, adamant in his decision of the odd team.

None of their personalities clicked together, but academically wise, they all perfectly balanced each other out, and that lead to the decision for them to be the four-man squad, Iruka figured.

He wished Kakashi the best of luck.

He sure as hell was going to need it.

"Eh, say that again?"

Chouko couldn't believe her ears.

She glanced at Naruto who was beaming at her, and then over at Sakura who was glaring, probably upset that she wasn't the only female on Sasuke's team anymore, not that Chouko was interested in him. And then Sasuke offered her a meek glare before going back to ignoring her and the rest of their team.

"Oh boy, this is going to be an absolute disaster," Chouko said though she was smiling. "I just may have the work luck ever!" She laughed not sure if she should be excited or fearful of her current situation.

"Hey, hey, Chouko! Looks like we're teammates after all!" Naruto grinned sticking his thumbs up. "Let's do our best, okay?"

"Okay, Naruto, I'll do my best." Chouko smiled at him, returning the gesture.

One smile was all it took to reassure her that everything would be fine.

* * *

When lunchtime had rolled its head around the group of Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru had all gone out to the balcony to eat their lunches. Shikamaru was sitting against the outside of the rail with one leg crossed over the other and his arm hanging limply over the rail. He was chewing on one of the riceballs that Choji's mother, Amaiko, had made for them while simultaneously listening to Ino rant and rave at the same time.

The girl was such a headache.

Ino deciding she had enough of the silence, jumped up from her seat and glared condescendingly at the two boys who paid no mind to her as they ate their lunches.

"Alright! If we are going to be in the same group then you two are going to have to follow my lead. It's the only way this mess will ever work." She said in a bossy way that only Ino seemed to know how to do.

Shikamaru scoffed. "Yeah, yeah." He shook her off choosing to focus on his riceball instead. _'It's the only way it will work because she'll throw a murderous fit if she doesn't get her way.'_ Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Why don't you lead us to some barbeque Ino!" Chouji said with a mouthful of food.

"Hopeless!" The blonde cried.

Shikamaru would have fired back at her had the sight of a familiar chubby girl caught his attention. It was Chouko. She looked exhausted and annoyed and Shikamaru bet it had to do with her new team. Throughout the class, she had to keep Naruto from mauling Sasuke and then had to deal with Ino and Sakura glaring at her the whole time and raising hell.

Chouko grumbled to herself while idly tossing an apple up and down. Her seafoam eyes looked around everywhere in search of something but came up empty.

Suddenly she came to a halt and sighed. "I take back everything I said. I have the worst luck." She said and took a small bite of the apple. "Some team we're shaping up to be. Can't even do something as simple as have lunch together." She groaned looking at the sky for a minute before her gaze fell back down onto the apple she had been previously eating.

A sour look crossed her face as she tossed it into a nearby trash can. She's not a fan of sour flavors the Nara boy noted to the part of his brain that was reserved for the odd Akimichi girl.

"Shikamaru! Have you heard anything I've said just now?!" Ino demanded with hands on her hips. She peered over his shoulder wondering just what had caused him to become so distracted. "What are you looking at?" She asked. "Is that Chouko? Why are you always staring at her?"

"None of your business. Don't you have someone else to annoy?

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. Why the hell did she care to know? It wasn't like it was any of her business to know such trivial things anyway.

Ino smirked leaning over the rail to yell at the girl.

"Chouko! Hey! Up here!" Ino yelled while waving her arms around in a comedic fashion.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shikamaru glared at her.

Chouko jumped a little and cursed, startled by Ino's yelling. She spun around and caught sight of the trio that eased her worry into a smile.

"Ah, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru!" She greeted all of them in kindness.

"Wanna have lunch with us?" Ino asked.

What the heck was she planning in that thick skull of hers? He wouldn't admit it, but Shikamaru was a bit curious.

Chouko seemed to look around for a minute before shrugging. "Not like my team is showing up anytime soon..." She grumbled and walked towards a tree near the balcony. "Sure, hang on a minute!"

She wiped the apple juice from her hand and leaped upwards grabbing onto a sturdy branch that was sticking out. She looked at the balcony with a focused gaze, her body started to rock back and forth and before anyone could ask what she was doing she swung forward, grabbing onto the rail and hoisting herself over, landing with a surprisingly, delicate flip.

They all stared at her.

"What?" She blinked as her face drained of color. "Do I...have something on my face?!" Chouko asked panicking at the thought of her lunch being smeared all over her face - _that would be so embarrassing!_

It wasn't that. No one expected her...to be so _nimble._ The Akimichi family weren't exactly known for their grace.

The only one who didn't seem surprised at all was Choji, who smiled and complimented her on her landing.

"You could have just come in through the door like a normal person." Ino sighed and pointed to the door behind her.

"We're ninja Ino," She said with a bashful laugh. "Nothing we do is normal."

"She got you there." Choji laughed stuffing another riceball in his mouth. Chouko grinned and at him and plopped down beside him. She leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder as Choji leaned his head against her own. "Want one?" He offered.

"Riceballs? Did Aunt Amaiko make these? Hell yeah!" Chouko grinned and greedily stuffed one of the delicious riceballs in her mouth. "So good! So much better than mine! I always make them too sticky or I always make them too sweet." Chouko gagged. "Aunt Amaiko's are always just right!"

_'She can't cook.'_ Shikamaru added to his list of growing notes.

"I think your riceballs are pretty good, Chou" Choji said thoughtfully.

"You're too kind, Cho." Chouko sighed. "Never change."

"Rodger!" Choji saluted, before panicking as he almost let his riceball fall, making Chouko laugh.

Shikamaru smiled watching the cousins interact. One would think they were brother and sister with how close they were. It always amused Shikamaru with how different the two were, and yet, how alike they were. Maybe that's why he found her to be so interesting?

That was probably it.

Ino spun around and faced the girl with a mischievous smile on her face.

This could only spell disaster.

"So, Chouko, how is your team doing? Mine is awesome as you can tell!" She spoke through gritted teeth. "Are you all getting along with one another?"

Chouko didn't answer right away.

Instead, she ate her riceball, extra slow, to annoy the prodding blonde. When she finished she cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"You want answers? Well, that all depends on what you have inside your bento." Chouko smirked at the irritating blonde.

Ino cocked a hip out and smirked down at her.

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine!"

"Oh, come on Ino! You didn't have to say it like that!"

The blonde giggled as the two exchanged bento boxes. The only thing of interest Chouko found in Ino's were the dorayaki cakes that she eagerly snatched up. Ino, on the other hand, had zeroed in on Chouko's cherry tomatoes and pudding. The two exchanged bento boxes again, pleased with their new treats.

"Chihaga always makes the best pudding!" Ino sighed happily. "If I ate delicious food like this all the time I'd get super fat!"

Chouko rolled her eyes. "It's practically in an Akimichi's blood to know how to cook, well, most of us, anyway," Chouko grumbled bitterly as she had taken after her father's inability to cook.

_She would burn water._

"What did you want to know?" Chouko asked biting into her newfound dorayaki.

Ino took a minute to swallow down her food before answering.

"How close is billboard brow getting to Sasuke?"

"I should have known." Chouko scuffed. "You have nothing to worry about. Sasuke, like always, isn't interested. So you don't need to worry about losing the game anytime soon, huh?"

Shikamaru and Choji laughed.

Ino's face turned red and her brows angrily knitted together. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Ino tried to deny it but Chouko wasn't buying it. "And my feelings are not a game!" She fervently denied though they all knew the truth.

"Neither is Sasuke's," Chouko said. "What you all are doing is wrong. Sasuke is human. Not a toy for you to play with until you get bored."

Chouko glared at the blonde who fell silent.

"If you want to know so bad Ino you can just ask! He's right over there."

Choji pointed to the building across from them breaking the tense moment. Sure enough, there was Sasuke with his back to them, eating what looked like a rice ball stuffed with tomatoes.

_Gross._ Chouko didn't care for tomatoes, at all.

Shikamaru glanced over at Chouko. She was glaring at the back of the Uchiha's head with needles made of piercing venom. The sight of such a harsh glare on her chubby face was...adorable, and almost made him laugh, but instead, he shook his head and went back to minding his own business.

Ino could learn a thing or two about that.

"Well, one idiot down, one fangirl to go, and one loveable knucklehead yet to be seen."

Chouko cursed her teammates in her head and was ready to dig into another of Amaiko's riceballs when she suddenly sensed a familiar warm chakra. She couldn't see him yet but she could feel him. Her eyes fell shut as she searched for him. She found him, creeping along the alleys until he finally came creeping along the open road and silently crawled through the open window that Sasuke had his back to.

"What the hell are you up to, Naru?" Chouko eyes snapped open as she turned towards the open window. She could practically feel it coming when Naruto suddenly tackled Sasuke to the ground out of their vision.

Chouko sighed heavily while the others seemed taken back.

It wasn't unlike Naruto to do something this dumb. One day he was going to take his pranks too far and somehow, she knew he would involve her in it like always. She couldn't complain too much though since they were pretty fun sometimes.

"Naruto! If you so much as scratch him you are on my enemy list forever!" Ino shouted though he hadn't heard.

"Wouldn't want your prize getting damaged, huh?" Chouko snorted.

It was a minute later when 'Sasuke' clumsily leaped out of the window leading the others to believe had won the fight. Chouko wasn't so sure. There was something off about 'Sasuke' that had her narrowing her eyes in suspicion. His chakra was all different. It didn't flow like a river and it wasn't cool.

It was warm, like a certain ninja she knew all too well.

"He beat Naruto without even breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said leaning away from the railing.

"What did you expect? Naruto against my boy Sasuke? No contest." Ino stretched her arms out and smirked.

"You're wrong," Chouko said making them all turn and look at her. "That's not Sasuke." She groaned.

"What are you talking about? Of course, that's Sasuke!" Ino scowled at her, "You think Naruto could beat Sasuke?! Get real, Chouko! There's no way that deadbeat could put a scratch on Sasuke!"

Chouko shot Ino a glare and waited for 'Sasuke' to leave. When he was out of sight she leaped the distance from the building to the other that Sasuke had been eating his lunch in. Of course instead of finding a beaten Naruto like the others had been expecting, she instead found Sasuke on the floor, all tied up and looking extremely annoyed that he had been tricked by Kohona's number one knuckle-headed ninja: Uzumaki Naruto.

Chouko blinked. "This...isn't what I was expecting." She said trying to bite back a snicker. "Your little fanbase would had a field day if they found out you were into this kind of thing, _Sasuke-Kun~_"

Sasuke was always acting too cocky and arrogant and the fact that he had fallen victim to Naruto's little prank tickled her funny bone.

Sasuke glared at her and seemed to say with his eyes _'untie me now!'_ behind a murderous gaze.

"Geez, at least say please." Chouko rolled her eyes and pulled a kunai out from one of her weapon pouches. She crouched down low beside the Uchiha and gently slid her kunai beneath the rope. "Stop struggling so much! You'll make me cut you." She scolded the squirming worm who calmed, allowing her to gently cut through the rope. "So...how did he do this?" Chouko motioned to the rope that now lay slashed on the ground.

Sasuke was momentarily mute. He rubbed at his wrists with an almost thoughtful expression.

"Shadow Clones..." Sasuke admitted reluctantly.

_Shadow Clones?_

_What?_

The other day Naruto didn't even know how to make a single clone! Now he was making _clones?_ When had this happened and why hadn't he told her?

She felt hurt.

"Let me help you find him." She offered. "I know Naruto better than anyone else, and it beats sitting around here doing nothing."

She didn't mind having lunch with Team Ten though, even if it was just a way for Ino to weasel information about Sasuke out her, they were still kind of fun to be around.

"I don't need your help." Sasuke hissed at her. "I can find that loser on my own."

"Oh, can you, Sasuke? Let's not forget if it weren't for me you would still be tied up right now." Chouko folded her arms over her chest with a challenging smirk. "Not only that, I just happened to see Naruto run by disguised as you. Where do you think he'd be going like that, Sasuke? Perhaps to visit a pink-haired girl head over heels in love -" She snickered as she held up air quotations " - with you, disguised as you?"

Sasuke twitched and seemed to think for a minute.

"Whatever. Just don't slow me down." He scoffed and took the lead.

"Aye-aye!" Chouko saluted. "Yes, Sir, Uchiha Sir!"

Sasuke scowled already regretting his decision of letting the idiot girl help him.

She was just like Naruto.

* * *

"Chouko is crazy if she thinks that Naruto could actually beat Sasuke. He can't even make a proper clone!" Ino laughed and stared at the window waiting for Chouko to come out and announce she was wrong.

Chouko did come out, but not with the dejected face that she had been expecting but instead a cocky smirk that screamed _'I told you so!'_ that Ino wanted to smack off her fat face.

Sasuke was right behind her looking more annoyed than ever.

_"S-Sasuke?!"_ Ino puttered.

"No way! Naruto beat him?" Shikamaru blinked back his disbelief.

_'Observant'_, he added to the list that seemed to be steadily growing today. _'Or maybe just has special senses when it comes to Naruto...'_

"I believed her." Choji said eating his last riceball, "No one knows Naruto better than Chouko."

Chouko waved to them as she grabbed Sasuke by the wrist dragging him away. "Come on, Sir Grump! I'm pretty sure Naruto went this way!" She yelled pulling him along.

When Sasuke and Chouko were out of sight Ino let out a frustrated scream. _"I hate her!" _She yelled stamping her foot angrily, "She thinks she's so smart! How the hell was I supposed to know that wasn't Sasuke!"

Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag."

* * *

It had taken some time but they were eventually able to track down Sakura who was sitting on a bench looking lovesick. Chouko took it as a sign that Naruto had been there. She called out to the pink-haired girl who frowned when seeing her, and then twisting her frown into a scowl when she noticed Sasuke walking alongside her.

"Sasuke you're back!" Sakura beamed ignoring Chouko in favor of Sasuke. "Come on now, don't be so shy, you bad, bad, boy! So are you ready now? You know, mentally prepared? Because I am! I, uh, mean that I'm raring to go!..."

_'This is...so pathetic. Better move along to make this less awkward for her.' _Chouko cringed.

Sakura's face fell as Sasuke and Chouko walked right past her. "H-Hey! Wait a minute!" She yelled desperately.

Chouk nudged Sasuke who stopped and glared at her. Chouko rolled her eyes and pointed back at Sakura. She wasn't going to tell _her_ anything.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed by Sakura's persistence and Chouko's general presence.

"Oh, see, there you go changing subjects again!" Sakura smirked coyly. "You know why he is so annoying? It's because he wasn't raised right." Sakura said.

Chouko stiffened and glared coldly at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She didn't like the direction this conversation was going.

Sakura knew just as well as Chouko that Naruto didn't have any family.

"He doesn't have a mother or father. There's no one to teach him wrong from right. Think about it! All he ever does is just do whatever comes right into his head." She wagged her finger around. "If I did things as Naruto does then I'd get in big trouble! My parents would be furious, so of course, I don't do it. But if you don't have parents to tell you how would you know? He's selfish and bratty and he's all alone!"

Chouko felt rage fill her veins as she stomped towards the pinkette.

Talk shit about her? _That's fine._

Talk shit about Naruto? May the gates of hell have mercy on your soul.

"Of all the horrible and nasty things to ever come out your mouth - _this is the worst!_" Chouko shouted grabbing Sakura by the front of her dress. "Not everyone has the luxury of having their parents as you do, Sakura! What the in the actual hell is wrong with you to say something so horrible?! You should know by now that this world is unpredictable and that anything can happen at any given moment, then how would you feel? And just who the hell do you think you are you judge Naruto!? You don't know anything about him or the things he has been through!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "G-Get off of me!" She shouted shoving Chouko away.

The normally calm Akimichi girl looked like a wild animal at the moment and it terrified Sakura.

"Alone? I still hate it. It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone." Sasuke said through clenched teeth and balled fists.

It was like someone tossed a stone into the river as it rippled in a warning. Chouko frowned, calming herself down as a drifting wind passed by distracting her for a moment as she watched leaves harmlessly float past them.

"What? Why are you saying that?" Sakura almost looked offended as if Sasuke had said something wrong to her.

"Because," Sasuke turned and glared at her, "You're annoying." And with that Sasuke walked away leaving Sakura wide-eyed and broken.

Chouko sighed and stepped up to the girl while fighting down her feelings of anger.

"You don't know anything about Sasuke, do you? If you did you wouldn't have just said all that. All you've done is angered him and me. Do you even hear what comes out of your mouth, Sakura? Maybe you should try and think about other people's feelings for once instead of your own. Is this stupid game you're playing that important that you're willing to put other people's feelings to the side, for your selfish desires?"

And like Sasuke, Chouko walked away leaving the pinkette to think about what she said.

* * *

Chouko and the rest of Team Seven met up back at the academy after lunch. Things had calmed down since then and Sakura was thankfully being quiet for the time being. Chouko slumped in her seat on the far side of the room nearest to the window. She gazed longingly outside at the fat puffy clouds. She'd much rather be out there, blissfully watching the clouds roll by and listening to the humming of the while the grass danced around her skin .

Anything was better than this.

Chouko looks away from the sky as she caught sight of Team Ten and Asuma-Sensei. She was very familiar with Sarutobi Asuma, a sort of uncle-figure to her. She saw him and Kurenai quite a bit since they were friends with her parents. It was no surprise that he ended up being the leader of Squad Ten. He was the perfect fit, and honestly, she was a little jealous. Chouko hummed knocking loudly on the glass. It took a minute but eventually, the outside group stopped and looked around for the source of the noise. It was Choji who spotted her, waving his arms around in the air and shouting something that she couldn't hear while Shikamaru gave a lazy wave and Ino huffed, turning away and pretending she didn't exist.

Asuma-sensei gave a nod of acknowledgment and a small smile. Chouko grinned and waved them away as she felt a sense of dread fill her. Sure enough, as she turned around she found half of the team causing trouble, again.

"Naruto! Sit down!"

Chouko sighed loudly.

What were they arguing about now?

Naruto stood in front of the door looking rather impatient with their Sensei's tardiness and Sasuke and Sakura looked annoyed in general.

She couldn't blame them she guessed, their Sensei was three hours late.

Didn't Iruka-Sensei say their Sensei was a Jonin? Shouldn't they more..._punctual?_

"I don't want to!" Naruto whined. "How come our Sensei is the only one who's late? I'm ready to role, believe it! The other students have already met their Sensei and took off on some cool adventure, or something! Iruka-sensei is gone too!"

"We already know that, Naru." Chouko frowned. "But there isn't much we can do. It's not like we can just leave, ya know? Hey, Naruto, are you even listening to me?!"

Chouko groaned watching Naruto attempting to pull another of his pranks. Hadn't he learned by now? He always got caught, and always got into trouble. Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. He was going to have to learn one day that his actions had consequences.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sakura demanded with hands pressed against her hips. "Naruto!"

"This is what he gets for coming late - _surprise!" _Naruto grinned and jumped from the chair he was standing on.

Chouko didn't think their Sensei would fall for a simple trick like that.

"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that!" Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes scolded, but it was clear that she was just as excited as Naruto.

That was another thing that Chouko couldn't stand about Sakura, is that she was always putting Naruto down. It didn't matter how kind he was to her, she always brushed him aside and treated him as a lower-class citizen, and went out of her way to humiliate him.

"Our teacher is a Jonin, an Elite Ninja. You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke's hands were folded in front of his face, and his eyes were closed.

"Yeah! Sasuke's right, Naruto! You're so clueless."

"Why are you like this? You're just as excited as Naruto is about this. Stop trying to act like you're better than we are." Chouko frowned with folded arms. "Is this really how you want people to see you, Sakura?"

Chouko let her shoulders slump as a feeling of nostalgia washed over her. What happened to the girl who used to be so determined to become a strong kunoichi?

Sakura's face turned as pink as her hair. "No one asked you, tubby!" She yelled and pointed an angry finger her way.

Chouko winced causing Sakura to smirk. A fat joke. _Really?_ Cheap shot. Chouko scoffed and looked away with puffed cheeks. She glared at Sasuke who she was sitting by her and jabbed a thumb towards Sakura.

"Oi, Sasuke, control your _dog_. She's getting out of control. If you don't I just might have to put her down."

Sakura let out a horrifying screech as her face once again turned red. She looked from a snickering Chouko to Sasuke, who seemed to be amused, but of course, wouldn't let them see it.

Instead, he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Not my problem." He said with a click of his tongue.

Sakura wanted to curl into a ball and die. Her inner-self was screaming at her to fight back, but she was too heartbroken by Sasuke's blatant rejection to do anything.

Chouko looked towards the door as she caught a sense of a chakra signature outside. It was strong, and buzzed, like the low thrum of a thunderstorm. She sat up a little straighter as she waited with bated breath for them to enter. The door suddenly cracked opened and everyone froze while holding their breaths. As a masked man with silver hair popped his head inside of the room, the eraser that Naruto had placed on top of the door fell and smacked him on the head in a cloud of chalk dust.

Naruto was rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Hahaha! I got him! He totally fell for it!" He chortled pointing at the masked man.

"I'm so sorry Sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I'd never do something like that!" Sakura said.

"Suck up." Chouko rolled her eyes.

Sasuke bobbed his head in agreement.

The man cleared his throat and gathered their attention. "Hm, how can I put this?" The man mused, picking the fallen eraser up from the ground. "My first impression of this group? You're all a bunch of idiots."

Chouko felt a stabbing jab towards the little pride she carried and shamefully hung her head.

Things couldn't possibly get any worse

* * *

Chouko and her merry band of teammates sat on the roof of the academy, Chouko being squished between Sasuke and Naruto, while Sakura sat on the opposite side of Sasuke. Their Sensei was casually leaning against the rail before them with a look of complete and utter boredom on his surprisingly youthful face. Chouko honestly thought their Sensei looked to be rather young for a Jonin but knew better than to judge someone based on age. None of those things mattered in the world of a ninja as ninja come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and ages, and each could prove to be more deadly than the next.

"Alright. Why don't you introduce yourself? One at a time." The silver-haired man said in a lazy draw.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura repeated. "How so? Like, what should we say?"

The man shrugged. "Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Doesn't sound too hard," Sakura said.

Chouko was interested in learning more about her team. She knew a lot about Naruto, obviously, at least what he was willing to tell her. There were some things he hid from her, and it did hurt a little, but she knew he'd tell her when he was ready. What she did know is that he liked to cause pranks, and that trouble clung to him like a magnet and that for some reason, everyone in the village hated him. Chouko found this to be odd. Naruto was a goofball, but a harmless one.

He'd never do anything to intentionally hurt someone or make them feel bad about themselves...so why did the village go out of their way to make him feel like an outcast?

What made Uzumaki Naruto so different from everyone else?

Sakura she knew like the back of her hand. Chouko, Ino, and Sakura all used to be close friends when they were younger. Ino and Chouko had been forced together at birth by their mother's but they naturally grew as friends which still holds to this day, even if Ino does annoy Chouko with her childish games and an attitude problem. Sakura was introduced to Chouko by Ino, and they quickly adjusted to one another. Chouko liked Sakura and thought she was pretty, and Sakura was kind to her unlike some of the other girls.

Chouko knew she and Ino would grow up to become ninja but it had surprised her when Sakura expressed her dreams of becoming a ninja too, a strong one who could look after herself and make her parents proud. Everything had been going well between the three of them until Sakura decided that she's "hopelessly" in "love" with Sasuke. It was funny since she never really showed any interest in Sasuke until Ino announced her crush on him. Then again, Ino never bothered announcing her crush on Sasuke until she heard the word, that Sakura liked him.

Ability wise, Sakura is freakishly strong. It's not normal, downright scary. Not only that but she has great control over chakra and learns things quickly, and she knows a little bit about medical ninjutsu, too. The freakish strength comes from her mother no doubt, but her father was the one who taught her basic medical ninjutsu since he was always worried when it came to his daughter.

Sakura had potential, a lot of it.

To see her throwing it away to chase after a boy with absolutely no interest in her pissed Chouko off.

Chouko envied Sakura in many aspects. She was smart, beautiful, and always did better than her in just about everything, and it's in many ways one of the reasons she gets so annoyed when she sees her wasting her potential on a pointless feud.

...Or maybe, she just thinks back to when they were young, and the times they would play together and weren't constantly at each other's throats like rabid animals.

Chouko frowned and shook her head. People grow and change all the time.

Sometimes though, it is for the worst.

_'Way to bum yourself out Chouko.'_ She thought with a sigh.

She glanced over at Sasuke who always had his fist tucked under his chin and a glare on his face. Chouko knew as much about Sasuke as everyone else did, but everyone knew of his sad tale. She was aware of his Clan's massacre and figured this is why Sasuke was so cold to everyone and why he kept his distance.

She couldn't even begin to imagine what it fell like to be entirely all alone.

"Why don't you go first, Sensei?" Sakura said, drawing Chouko back to reality.

Chouko bobbed her head in agreement. "You should give us a demonstration, Sensei. We'll be able to understand what you're saying better." She finished with a smile. She just wanted to learn something - _anything_ \- about their Sensei.

The man raised a challenging brow at them. "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi." He said. "Things I like, and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? I never really thought about it. As for hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

Chouko's brow twitched.

_He was one of those types, huh?_

"Well, that was totally useless." Sakura scoffed. "All he really told us was his name," Sakura whispered to the three of them.

Chouko reluctantly agreed with the pinkette.

"Your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right, you first," Kakashi said to the blond-haired boy dressed in orange.

Chouko smiled encouragingly at Naruto and stuck up a thumb. He seemed to be excited to talk about himself, and honestly, it was too stinking adorable.

"Believe it!" Naruto said adjusting his headband. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen that Iruka-Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noddle Shop! But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water into the ramen cup..."

Chouko snorted. If there was one thing Naruto loved more than anything else it the world, it was ramen. It was pretty much the only thing he ever ate. She had once tried to get him to eat vegetables and he acted as if he were going to die.

"My hobbies include pulling pranks on all the village geezers with Chouko!"

Chouko blanched. He could have left that part out. She noticed Kakashi-Sensei's side glare and chuckled nervously as she mumbled out a half-excuse of an apology while frantically waving her arms around.

"And my future dream...is to be the greatest Hokage! Then, the whole village will stop disrespecting me, and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

A smile stretched across her face when she looked at Naruto. The determination was burning brightly in his baby blue eyes and his chakra was pulsating.

Hokage Naruto...she liked the sound of it.

She smiled at him and refocused her attention on Kakashi-sensei. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of dreams Sasuke and Sakura had.

"Alright, next." Kakashi nodded at Sakura.

_'Someday I'm going to become a super-strong kunoichi, Chouko! I'll become super famous, just you wait and see!'_

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like, uh I mean the person I like...mmmm!" _Oh, God_. "Um, my hobby is, uh, my dream for the future!..." Sakura looked over at Sasuke and started giggling behind her fist.

Chouko frowned deeply.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked.

_"NARUTO!"_

_"WHAT?!"_

Chouko whipped around to face Sakura with a glare. "That was uncalled for, Sakura! You don't have any right to act like such a righteous bitch towards Naruto! He's only ever been nice to you which is something someone as self-centered as you don't deserve!" Chouko scowled at Sakura.

"Shut up, Chouko! You're only friends with Naruto because he's the only one who likes you! No one else would be friends with the class fatty otherwise!" Sakura scowled back. "But you know that say about losers sticking together."

Kakashi sighed watching the two bickering girls. Chouko had turned red in the face and had balled her fist together. He half expected her to pounce, but she kept her composure - _somewhat_ \- it was obvious that the comment about her weight had upset her, but she didn't say anything, but her expression showed it all.

Lord Hokage has said that she could be the backbone his team needed, but Kakashi has yet to see it. So far, she seemed no different than the other brats sitting before him.

"Enough!" Kakashi yelled making the girls jump and end their bickering. "You now." Kakashi pointed at Sasuke.

Like always he had his hands folded so they covered his mouth, and his eyes were fixed in a glare.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." He said making the Haruno's face fall. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

Sakura almost seemed turned on by Sasuke, while Naruto looked completely terrified.

He probably thought Sasuke was talking about him.

Chouko felt sympathetic. Sasuke long ago was a nice kid who never stopped smiling, but everything changed after his clan was slaughtered in cold blood by none other than his brother.

Was revenge worth it though? What happened when it was over?

The act of revenge wouldn't magically bring his clan back to life.

"I see." Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. "Lastly, you there, girl."

Kakashi nodded to Chouko, who swallowed a lump in her throat as she straightened her posture and calmed herself, steadily looking into his eyes. He lazily watched her go from panic to a state of calmness that took him a bit by surprise.

He was curious to learn about the Akimichi girl that Lord Hokage was so persistent about.

"My name is Akimichi Chouko! My favorite thing to do is watch the clouds, especially with Choji and Shikamaru, and I especially like spending time with my best friend, Uzumaki Naruto!"

_'She knows and understands Naruto better than anyone else in this village. I believe she'll be able to help him better mature.'_

Naruto grinned widely.

"I dislike selfish people who have no regard for other people's feelings." Chouko's eyes flickered to Sakura. "People have boundaries for a reason."

_'She's able to pick up on the emotions of people around her and uses that to help understand them better. Sasuke will have the most trouble coming into the team, but I believe she'll be the right person to nudge him out of his shell without being too overbearing.' _

"The kind of people who throw away their dreams without trying are the people I can't stand the most."

_'Sakura has the potential to become a good kunoichi. I have no doubt seeing Chouko pushing herself will motivate her to work harder. A strong sense of rivalry will help the two mature.'_

"My goal isn't anything special, honestly. I'm not even sure if I have a goal right now. I guess I just want to break out of my cocoon and spread my wings, ya know?" Chouko grinned. "Maybe become someone that people will look up to one day! I'd like to lead my own squad, or maybe I'll become Naruto's assistant when he's Hokage..." Chouko trailed off thoughtfully.

It would be nice, but she didn't know if she could handle all the work that came hand-in-hand with such a powerful position. It seemed like a position better for someone of Shikamaru's caliber.

"As long as I can keep my friends and family safe then that's all that matters to me," Chouko said locking eyes with Kakashi. "I want to protect the village so that my little brother has a safe place to grow up."

Naruto stared at her with wide eyes, Sakura pretended to not care as she held a far-off look in her eyes, and Sasuke said nothing, only stared at her out of the corner of his eye.

In the words of Lord Hokage, he believed that Chouko could be a safety net that Team Seven needed, the glue that held her teammates together and kept them composed.

Kakashi wasn't exactly keen on the idea of adding another brat to his watch, but he couldn't very well oppose the Hokage's will, either.

However, he was beginning to see what the Hokage was on about.

Kakashi stared at thoughtfully before giving a small nod.

"Good. You are each unique and you have your own ideas." He said with a clap of his hands. "We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"Already?" Chouko asked. "It seems too soon to have one." She tilted her head. "Are you we're really prepared for that kind of thing?"

"What kind of mission are we going to have, Sensei?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together," Kakashi-sensei answered simplistically.

"Can you be less vague?" Chouko asked, "That doesn't tell us much."

"A survival exercise," Kakashi answered.

The group collectively groaned. Well, Sasuke grunted, but it still counted in Chouko's book.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice." Sakura glared, "We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi hummed.

There was an edge to his voice that sent shivers down Chouko's spine.

"What do you mean?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"So what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked.

Instead of reply Kakashi started chuckling.

"Why are you laugh? That was a serious question." Chouko frowned.

"If I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it~," Kakashi said in a sing-song tone.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Chouko challenged with a smirk of her own.

"Of the thirty-one graduates who just came here, only ten will be accepted as Genin. The others will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass-fail-test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."

Her breathe caught in her throat. _Sixty-six percent chance of failure? _Chouko felt her dreams ending before they even began.

"See? Didn't I tell say you wouldn't like it?" Kakashi said, with a closed-eyed smile.

_Cheeky bastard._

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! What was that graduation test for anyway?!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, that? That was just to select candidates who might become Genin, or not." Kakashi shrugged. "The lot of you especially have a higher chance of failing. You're the odd ones out this year."

"That's not fair!" Sakura scowled, "We worked hard to get here, Sensei!"

Again, Chouko found herself agreeing with Sakura.

How annoying.

"That's how it is." Kakashi said, "I decided whether you pass, or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five in the morning, and bring your ninja gear. Oh, and tomorrow, you might want to skip breakfast - _or else you'll puke_."

Chouko groaned. This was not going to be easy.

This was never going to be easy.

* * *

The first official meeting of Team Seven had ended and Chouko felt exhausted of all her energy. All she wanted to do was go home and get some rest, and mentally prepare for whatever hell Kakashi-sensei planned to put them through. She had even denied getting ramen with Naruto, and when seeing his heartbroken face, had promised to make it up to him in some way later.

Maybe she'd invite him over for dinner? Surely her mother's cooking could convince him that vegetables weren't poisonous.

As she walked the streets of Kohona her mind kept wandering back to what Kakashi-sensei had told them earlier. Ten. Only ten of them would become Genin. There was a very high chance that she could fail. Then what? This is what she had set her mind to doing. If she failed now after coming so far, then she would surely disappoint the people who believed in her, and that's the last thing she wanted.

She wanted people to be proud of her.

Chouko sighed and like always when she found herself in deep thought she looked to the sky.

The swirling clouds of pink and orange brought her an odd sense of comfort.

She found herself wondering if Shikamaru ever watched the sunset.

Maybe sometime she'd invite him.

The thought oddly made her happy as she made her way back home, ready to face whatever Kakashi-sensei through in their face tomorrow.

She decided to spread her wings and against everything the world threw at her...

She was going to soar high above the clouds.

* * *

**EndNote:** I. Did. It. I haven't written anything in so long, guys! I feel like my writing has changed much and yet I'm worried that I'm going to let every down lol. Chouko is fun to write for! She's such an easy character to write and playing with the interactions of Team Seven is entertaining as all hell.

Hopefully, this was worth the wait.

Thank you all for waiting for me.

I'm tired now lol. I think I'll work on this story for a while before reintroducing my other stories. I would like to know which one you guys would like to see next though. My Hero Academia? One Piece? HunterxHunter? Let me know!


	2. Pass or Fail: Survival Test!

**A/n:** How many butterfly references can I make in one story? I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. I'm trying to add new bits and bobs to these chapters so they aren't all the same thing, while also not changing them completely because I did work hard on these chapters and was happy with them before I went on hiatus. So these first three chapters will be edited from the previous story with new pieces and changed dialogue.

I would say the last part of this chapter didn't see much change but I really, really, love that bit.

* * *

Chouko felt like the weight of the world had been dumped on her shoulders all at once as she dragged her tired body through the door. As soon as she entered the comfort of her home she discarded her sandals and collapsed against the door. It was funny to her that she was so tired considering the fact she didn't do anything today but argue with her team. She had some doubts about how everything was going to play out in the future. There wasn't any sign of her and Sakura getting along anytime soon, and Naruto and Sasuke were even worse when it came to their petty children's games, and then to top it off they had a Sensei who couldn't be bothered to show up on time - there was no coordination! Everyone seemed to have their own agendas and goals, which is to be expected, but no one was putting forth the mindset of working together to achieve them.

How were they supposed to accomplish anything if they didn't act like a team and work together?

Chouko sighed and banged her head against the door.

"Why me?" She groaned.

"Chou, is everything alright? You're late."

Chouko's seafoam eyes glanced up at her mother's worried face with a bitter grimace. After her meeting with Team Seven, she had walked around for a while thinking and watching the sunset. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten until she couldn't see any trace of the sun or clouds anymore, which is when she finally decided to make her way home. Her mother must have been worried sick about her. Her father and brother were most likely in bed by now, otherwise, she would have been receiving quite the scolding by the giant of a man.

She could understand the worry of her mother (her father overreacted about every little thing concerning her) as in the past there were times where Chouko had come home covered in bruises and looking worse for wear, having gotten into a fight with the local playground bullies who had too much time on their hands. It was never anything serious, just a few older kids who liked to pick on the younger generation for whatever reason. Chouko wasn't the only one who got bullied, but they did tend to signal her out more whenever they caught sight of her with Naruto.

Served her right for hanging around with the demon brat, they would say.

What did that even mean?

Chouko sighed, running a hand through her messy hair as she tried to collect her thoughts into a coherent sentence.

"Ah, yeah, you worry too much." Chouko smiled. "Everything is fine. I guess I feeling a little tired though. I have some things on my mind, and nothing went as I thought it would today. I'm fine though, really, I am! Stop being such a worrier all the time, geez."

Her mother scoffed and pushed her fist into her hips. "Do you even know who you are talking to? I'm your mother. Part of my daily routine is spent worrying about your well-being." She frowned crossing her arms over her chest.

Chihagi sighed lowering herself to her knees. She reached her hand out and gently pushed Chouko's hair from her face, smiling softly as her daughter molded against her gentle touch. Chihagi gently cupped her daughter's face and leaned forward, bumping their heads together. She took a deep breath, encouraging her daughter to do the same, and gently let it out.

Chouko sighed bumping her head against the door.

"What's troubling you, butterfly? You're filled with worry and doubt."

Her mother always knew what she or anyone else in their family was feeling and thinking. It was scary accurate at times like she had some kind of supersensory power.

"My team isn't anything I'd imagine it would be," Chouko said solemnly. "I'm happy because I get to be on a squad with Naruto, but I also have Sakura and Sasuke as teammates, too. It makes things...difficult. No one gets along. Naruto is always trying to turn everything into a competition with Sasuke, and Sakura can't function when she's around Sasuke and all she wants to do is argue with me. The dynamic is all messed up and tomorrow we have our first mission as a team - a survival exercise. I'm worried about what's going to happen. Kakashi-Sensei said only ten of us will be accepted as Genin...that means I could fail, and be sent back to the academy."

Chouko felt her voice crack. What would she do then if that happened? She had worked so hard to get to this point.

To come this far, and then be told you failed, try again next time would be soul-crushing.

Chouko scrubbed at her watery eyes trying to erase any traces of tears, trying to wipe away her frustrations an anxieties.

She was a ninja now, so she had to be strong right?

"S-sorry." Chouko hiccuped. "I just...I don't know what to say! I'm so frustrated, mama."

Chihagi sighed pulling her daughter into her arms.

"Never apologize for your emotions, Chouko. Just because you're a ninja now doesn't mean you have to bottle away your feelings. Your emotions are how you learn and grow. Your tears are there to speak for you when you cannot find the words to say yourself. The emotions you're feeling speak of your honesty."

"It feels like I'm the only one who's serious about this..." Chouko sniffled and buried her face in her mother's chest.

"Change takes time, Chouko. You told your father and I that your reasoning for becoming a ninja was because that you wanted to become a butterfly, spread your wings and break free from your cocoon...but that doesn't happen overnight."

Chihagi pulled away from Chouko and cupped her face, tilting her head up to look at her.

"Butterflies, they start as awkward little caterpillars that have to wiggle and crawl their way through life before they experience the change and growth needed to become the graceful butterfly that everyone admires, and only when they achieve that growth, can they spread their wings and fly."

Chouko felt her eyes closing as her mother pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.

_"Give your friends wings time to grow, Chouko."_

* * *

The following morning Chouko woke up on the hard floor of her messy bedroom. The anxieties and fears she felt the other night were put aside for now with her mother's words echoing strongly in her head. _Give your friends' wings time to grow._ Right. They were only genin and just starting as a team, of course, they wouldn't be perfect yet. It would take time and patient, a lot of patience...

Chouko stretched her chubby arms high above her head and scratched at her cheek cake in drool. She grimaced and wiped her hand on her pajama bottoms. Chouko groaned trying to drown out the faint sound of beeping in the background, debating whether or not she should just ignore her alarm or go back to bed, before remembering the test, and if she were to do that then she would surely flunk and her dream of becoming a ninja would be dead.

With a grunt, she smacked her alarm off her bedside table to shut it up and pulled herself off from the floor. Her blanket cape fell from her shoulders with a flourish and she smoothed down her unruly hair, grabbed her gear, and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Chouko tried to open the door only to find it locked. Her eyes squinted as she banged on the door. She thought she could hear water running and banged on the door again, finally get a muffled response that sounded something like _'Hold your kunai!'_ before the door was torn open by her baby brother with a toothbrush hanging out his mouth, tousled hair, and a grumpy morning face.

_So cute._

Chouko would have cooed over him but she was in a bit of a hurry.

"Move it, Chinaru."

She said grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him out of the bathroom. The toothbrush fell from Chinaru's slackjawed mouth as he stared at the bathroom door. The eight-year-old looked at his fallen toothbrush and then back at the door before his face turned red as a beet. He raised his fist against the door and started to bang on it like a madman.

"That's not fair! I was in there first, Chou! You can't keep bossing me around like this!" Chinaru yelled.

"I'm older, therefore I have bathroom rights!" She yelled back.

"Huh?! _Since when?!_"

"Since now! I need to shower and meet my team. You'll understand when you're older, Chi-Chi."

"Don't call me that! Ugh, when I become a ninja the first thing I'm going to do is kick your lousy butt!"

"Keep on dreaming, kid."

Chouko chuckled. She gave her teeth a quick scrub and jumped in the shower. She tried to hurt feeling a little bad for Chinaru, but those feelings were pushed aside when she finished and he practically barreled over her to get into the bathroom.

She chuckled hearing him yell about her using up all of the hot water.

_Oops._

* * *

Chouko's nose twitched entering the kitchen. Something smelled...interesting. Quietly she crept around the corner and found her father slaving away over...something...at the stove, wearing her mother's apron that was far too small for him. She looked around for her mother but couldn't find her anywhere.

Chouko's face paled as she realized the dire situation she was in.

There was a reason her mother did all of the cooking.

"Ah, dad, whatcha doing?" Chouko asked easing her way into the kitchen. "Where's mom?"

Her father turned around with a wide grin on his face. His hair was pulled into his bun and his black robes were covered in flour and other things she couldn't quite make out.

"Ma' had to run some errands and left me in charge of the cooking this morning!"

Her father eagerly gestured to a pan full of looked like eggs...extra crispy, and a big bowl of black..._rice._

_'Mother why have you forsaken us!'_ Chouko's thoughts screamed.

Chouko sweat-dropped. "You look ridiculous." She said, cautiously sitting down at the kitchen table. "You're up pretty early. Do you have another mission? It feels like you just got back." Chouko asked trying and failing not to let her disappointment show.

She knew it wasn't his choice in the matter, but it had seemed like only yesterday he returned home! The last mission he was away for a whole month! She had hoped to spend a little time with him before his next big mission, at least. Now that she was a genin herself and would start going on her own missions it was hard to say when they'd get a chance to spend time with one another.

"We've talked about this, Chouko. I have my duties and now you do as well. I'll be leaving soon, but it won't be for too long this time, okay? When I return home we'll have some quality father-daughter time." Chosei saluted with his spatula. "We haven't gone out for barbeque in a while, huh? What do you say we hit up Yakiniku Q sometime? I've been craving their salted beef tongue for a while now! We can go chow down and you can tell me all about your new team. Your mother filled me in a little this morning. They sound...interesting."

"That's one way of putting it," Chouko grumbled. Her face softened at the thought of spending some time with her father. "Sure, dad. You just have to promise to save me some. The last time you went you hogged all the food!"

Her father faltered for a second before recovering with a nervous chuckle.

"L-let's not think about that, my little butterfly. That's all in the past now! You've got a pretty exciting day ahead of you, which I believed called for a special breakfast!"

"I'd hardly called burnt fried eggs and rice special, dad." Chouko teased. Her father pouted and grumbled under his breath about ungrateful children which made her laugh. "It's kind of wasted effort since Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat anything or else we'd throw up," Chouko added with a pout.

_Stupid Kakashi-Sensei. _Did he not know how important food is to an Akimichi?

Though, he might just be saving her stomach this time.

"Oh, did he now?" Her father snorted. "Well, I don't care what Kakashi said! I'm saying to eat." Chousei grumbled and switched off the stove. He poured himself a cup of tea and set a plate in front of Chouko with the most edible parts he could find. "Food is an Akimichi's life source, Chouko. Eating is what builds up our chakra reserves and keeps us healthy and strong; you can't afford to miss a meal."

Chouko knew there was no point in arguing with her father. She said a small prayer as she quickly ate the disastrous dish. She smiled through her tears and forced herself to swallow the foul-tasting lumps of rice as her dad handed her bowl after bowl.

Rinse and repeat.

Chousei snorted. "That bad, huh?" He sighed and combed his large fingers through his beard. "I'll just have to try harder next time!" He declared making her go green at the thought. "It's about time you headed out, kid. Grab some of the protein bars out of the snack cabinet on your way out for your team. I have a feeling that they're going to be needing them." Chousei winked as he sipped his tea.

"Yes, Sir!" Chouko saluted.

Chousei watched Chouko stuffing protein bars away in her weapons pouch with a fond smile. When she had finished and counted to make sure she had enough he wrapped her up in a hug, burying his face in her pretty brown locks.

"Your old man doesn't say this enough, but I'm proud of you Chouko. You and your brother. Whatever happens today I want you to know that it will never change, but I know you're going to do just fine. You're smart, and you'll figure this out. I have nothing but faith in you, my little butterfly. This is just one step towards something greater."

Chousei leaned back and flashed her a dazzling smile that made Chouko's heart swell with happiness.

Chouko was proud to say that her father was one of her biggest inspirations and driving forces in life - not that her mother wasn't - but there was just something about the way her dad spoke and carried himself that made her believe she could do anything and that maybe one day she could become as cool of a shinobi as he, and her uncle Choza, both of them were incredible shinobi to the Akimichi name.

Chouko hoped she'd be able to live up to the family name as they have.

"Thanks, dad. I'll keep that in mind." Chouko sincerely smiled and hopped up to press a kiss against his cheek." Later, dad! See ya whenever you return home - _and you better come home!"_ Chouko yelled on her way out the door, passing by her brother.

"What's that funny smell? Oh God is Dad cooking?!"

"Good luck, kid! You'll need it!"

She snickered pulling his in a headlock and blowing a raspberry against his hair. Chinaru whined and fussed that she was messing up his hair and called her gross, but she only laughed and waved him off as she dashed out the door.

Chousei chuckled watching his daughter go. He knew better than to make promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He would do everything. He would do his best to return home to his family, but on the off-chance, something did ever happen to him, he knew that his family would be just fine.

The Akimichi clan aren't quitters.

It's their vitality and kindness that keeps them moving in this world of unpredictability.

* * *

Chouko hummed quietly to herself as she walked through the early morning streets. There weren't many people out this early and those there were out were mostly ninja. There were a few people out who recognized her. The friendlier of the bunch traded pleasantries while the other's look at her strangely, looking around for a certain knucklehead who would normally meet up with her in the morning. They didn't even bother trying to hide their satisfaction that he was not with her today.

She couldn't be bothered to entertain them as she had more important things to worry about.

She wouldn't be bothered by simple-minded people.

"Chouko, good morning."

Chouko stuttered in step and almost fell on her face when the familiar voice called out to her. She turned on her heel to come face-to-face with a beautiful, dark-haired woman. _"Kurenai!"_ Chouko happily yelled while tackling the woman in a tight hug. "A, good morning, Aunt Kurenai! You're up early today. Training, right?" Chouko grinned, releasing her from the overbearing hug as she took a step backward, teetering back and forth on the balls of her feet in an attempt to catch her balance.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kurenai laughed and affectionately ruffled her hair. "I ran into your mother earlier. She said you'd be heading out soon and not-so-subtly hinted for me to check on you." Kurenai winked.

Chouko sighed. She's known Kurenai ever since she was a baby and the woman was practically like an aunt to her. It was because of her parent's close relationship with both Asuma and Kurenai, that she had been around them a lot growing up and had just come to accept them as part of the family. Chouko was always closer with Kurenai was Chunari admired Asuma, though he'd sooner spitfire than admit it.

"Mom worries too much. I'm fine." Chouko scoffed. "Kakashi-Sensei has some stupid survival test planned." Chouko sighed. "I have a feeling it's going to be pretty brutal."

"You should go then. You don't want to keep your team waiting." Said Kurenai trying to hold back a laugh.

"You know as well as I do that Kakashi-sensei isn't going to be waiting," Chouko mumbled remembering how he had shown up three hours late for their first meeting. "You and Asuma should come by some time! Oh, we could all go out! We haven't done that in a long time. I'm sure it would make mom and dad happy - especially dad. He was so upset when I didn't get Asuma as my Sensei, speaking of, say hi to the old goat for me next time you see him, okay? Oh, Choiji and Shikamaru, and Ino, I guess."

She gave the woman another quick hug before dashing off.

"Bye, Kurenai-Sensei!" Chouko waved as she jogged away to make it to the designated meeting spot on time.

Kurenai watched the girl go with an affectionate smile on her face. She's grown a lot since she knows her. She used to be so frail and timid as a child, and now you could hardly tell.

She had high hopes for the young ninja in training.

* * *

It surprised Chouko when she was the first to arrive at the training ground. She was sure that Sasuke would have been the first to arrive or even Sakura. She never expected Naruto to be the first one. If anything, he was probably still in bed or scrambling around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get ready. Sighing, she slumped against a tree and plopped down on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest, with folded arms to rest her weary head-on.

It wasn't much longer after when the others arrived, looking more tired than the next.

Chouko chuckled lightly and smiled at them and waved, "Morning." She whispered tiredly.

Naruto murmured a slur of incoherent words and plopped down beside of Chouko. The blond yawned tiredly and rested his head on her shoulder. She listened to his even breathing, counting the seconds turned to minutes before she felt him slump against her shoulder with his head lolled to the side and trail of drool dribbling out of his mouth and down his chin. It was gross and kind of adorable at the same time, Chouko thought while leaning against him; she was always taller than him, making it a little awkward, so she gently moved in him to lay in her lap while she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Why do you insist on treating him like a child?" Sasuke glared.

"Jealous?" Chouko smirked. "If you want to lay in my lap all you have to do is ask, Sasuke-Kun!" Chouko cooed, voice dripping with overly fake enthusiasm.

"You shouldn't be pampering him so much. He'll never stop acting like a child."

Sasuke glared at her.

Chouko glared back.

"Mind your own business, Sasuke. I'm not treating him like a child. It's just...how we are, okay? He's like another little brother to me, so of course, I'm going to look out for him."

_"Another?"_ Sasuke stared at her. "You have a brother?"

She nodded slowly, feeling guilty for some reason.

"Yeah, his name is Chinaru. He's eight, wants to be a ninja, too. So I got to set a good example for him. He's an annoying little brat but..." Chouko trailed off feeling awkward.

Sasuke didn't say anything, only stared out in the distance.

He looked...thoughtful, almost.

He looked kind of cute without his resting bitch face.

Before either of them could say anything else - _not that they would have_ \- they were interrupted by a loud yawn and the sound of footsteps approaching them that was soon met with a pink-haired girl, dragging her body along.

"It's so early..." Sakura yawned and slumped down on the ground, "What on earth was Kakashi-sensei thinking? This is way too early!"

"The earlier the better," Chouko said stretching her free arm while the other was still tangled in Naruto's locks. "Time doesn't wait for anyone and at our level, we need all the training we can get to prepare us for the missions we'll be taking soon."

"She's right." Sasuke scoffed leaning against a tree. "Stop whining, Sakura."

"B-but, Sasuke!" Sakura gasped loudly. "This is your fault, Akimichi!" Sakura sent a pointed glared towards Chouko that just seemed to scream 'I hate you!'.

Chouko shrugged at Sakura and pulled the protein bars from her family's snack cabinet from her ninja pack.

"Here, you should all eat one of these." She said tossing one to each of them. "They're made specifically to build up your strength. "You two, sleeping beauty," Chouko said, flicking Naruto in the head.

"Ouch! Hey, that hurt, Chouko!" Naruto yelled groggily. "Huh, what's this?" He asked after Chouko shoved a protein bar in his face.

"Protein bars. They're good for building up your strength and energy, so they work as energy bars as well." Chouko said already having eaten half of hers.

Sakura glared at the snack. "Kakashi-Sensei said we weren't allowed to eat anything or else we'd throw up!" She placed her hands on her hips and glared down at Chouko. "You just want us to get in trouble!"

"If I wanted to get you in trouble I wouldn't be eating them too, dummy." Chouko glared. "Kakashi-Sensei is a liar, idiot. There is no way we'd be able to function as a unit with no energy. So shut up, and eat." She gave Sakura a look that left no room for argument as she shoved another bar into her hands. "You especially need these. You're too skinny. You need to build up some proper muscle and fat, otherwise, you're going to get pummeled into a pile of dust."

"Ramen would be better..." Naruto grumbled and tore into his protein bar. "Hey - _these are good!_" He yelled with wide eyes and a mouth full of food. "Give me another, Chouko!"

Chouko grinned handing him another bar. "Of course they're good! They're specially made by the Akimichi Clan, and we know how to make even the healthiest of things taste amazing!"

_All except for herself. _

Sasuke looked down at his suspiciously, eventually peeling back the wrapper and taking a bite. "Not bad, I guess. Thanks." He nodded at Chouko once he figured they weren't filled with poison.

"Uh, thanks, Sasuke." Chouko blinked. "I think?"

Sasuke had manners? _Who knew!_

"I shouldn't. I'm on a diet." Sakura frowned.

"What, _why?!_ Since when did you start dieting?" Chouko was flabbergasted. "What reason do you have to go on a diet? You're perfect just the way you are, idiot. You need to focus less on being pretty and focus more on getting stronger. Now suck it up and shove that protein bar down your throat. We don't need you to go fainting on us from a lack of energy." Chouko scoffed shoving the rest of her protein bar in her mouth.

"Of course you wouldn't care about that but it's different for me," Sakura said.

Diet? The words were poison to Chouko's tongue. If she were to even mention the word diet to anyone in her clan they would think she had gone insane. Food was the heart of the Akimichi clan and made them who they were. Sometimes Chouko felt silly for feeling bad about herself and her appearance when in the eye of her clan she was perfect; the larger you are, the stronger you're believed to become.

In the case of the Akimichi clan, size did matter.

"You're too insecure. You a lot prettier than you make yourself out to be, moron."

For as long as Chouko has known her Sakura has always been fussy about how she looks. Chouko thinks she still feels insecure, she used to get bullied for the size of her forehead all the time. Chouko thought she looked just fine the way she was, large forehead and all.

She even found herself at times feeling envious of her and wished that she could have her confidence and looks.

Sakura's eyes widened as a blush overtook her face. She quickly looked away and shyly tore open her protein bar. She gave it a sniff before taking a small nibble. Her eyes widened as the strawberry flavored overwhelmed her sense; her favorite flavor.

Did she remember something as small as that?

Chouko smiled watching her eat in silence. Sakura didn't say anything more, but Chouko considered it a short-lived victory.

* * *

Kakashi watched his darling little genin from afar, with arms crossed over his chest and a masked smiled on his face. They had a long way to go but he could see the potential in all of them.

Kakashi let out an amused chuckle watching the four of them from a distance.

"Maybe they aren't hopeless after all." His eyes zoomed in on Chouko who was watching her comrades with a pleased smile on his face. "One of them anyway."

* * *

Chouko had been talking idly with Naruto when she sensed a familiar buzzing. She looked up just in time to see Kakashi-sensei walking up the path with one hand raised in the air in a wave and the other stuffed inside of his pocket. He was even later than the day before, and he didn't seem one bit bothered by it.

"Good morning everyone!" Kakashi greeted cheerily as if he hadn't kept them waiting all morning.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

"You have a terrible work ethic, Sensei. If you're going to tell someone to be somewhere at a certain time then you have to honor the commitment of showing up." Chouko glared at the silver-haired man. "Why bother telling us to be here at a certain time if you aren't going to bother showing up?" Chouko huffed. "Don't you think that's setting a poor example?" Chouko grumbled thoroughly annoyed by his lack of time management.

Kakashi smiled at her under his mask. "Well, Chouko, you see a black cat crossed my path, leaving me no choice but to take a long way." Kakashi's one visible eye closed with a smile.

His chakra flickered.

"Liar." Chouko scoffed.

"It's rude to accuse your elders of lying, brat." Kakashi cocked his head at her.

"Yeah, well, your chakra doesn't lie," Chouko said.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. She could tell he was lying by his chakra? Hm, now he wasn't expecting that.

His little genin was proving to be quite interesting.

"Well then, let's get started," Kakashi said ignoring his students. He walked towards a tree stump and sat a medium black clock on it, "Here we go. Here we go. It's set for noon."

He pressed the gold button on top of it. Then from his pocket, Kakashi pulled out three silver bells and gave them a quick jingle.

"Your assignment is very simple, you just have to take these bells from me, that's all there is to it."

He jingled the bells once more.

There was that flicker again.

Chouko narrowed her eyes. There was more to this test than he was telling them, but what?

"If you can't get them by noon you go without lunch." Kakashi pointed to a set of four bento boxes neatly aligned on a stump. "You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi pointed to four posts in the distance.

Chouko leaned back with a grin on her face while Naruto started laughing. Sakura was fidgeting, obviously nervous, while Sasuke was smirking.

"Wait a minute there's four of us! How come there are only three bells?" Sakura held up three fingers.

Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." He said that all with a smile that made Chouko sick to her stomach.

"You have to be kidding me!" Chouko groaned. "Everything we went through to get here and you'd just send us back there?!"

"Nope. Can't say that I'm sorry, either." Kakashi shrugged. "Then again, all four of you could flunk out too," He eyed all of them, "You can use any weapons including shuriken and kunai; if you aren't prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are too dangerous Sensei!" Sakura cried with her arms spread wide to emphasize her point. "Someone could seriously get hurt!"

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser!" Naruto laughed loudly.

"It's not wise to taunt your superior, Naruto." Chouko sighed. "Don't ever go around taunting your enemy is you know nothing about them. It's a sure-fire way to get you killed."

"I would expect nothing less." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, lowest scores, losers." Kakashi stared at them for a moment. "Now when I say start you may begin."

Chouko stiffened as she felt Naruto's chakra change. It almost scared her how fast it happened, how it went from feeling like standing under the sun on a warm day, to stepping into the shade. She glanced at Naruto. His lips were pulled back into a snarl and his fingers were twitching at his side.

One step forward and Chouko was grabbing him by the back of his jacket, pulling him back to her and carefully disarming the kunai that he had prepared to attack Kakashi-sensei with; she pinned him to the ground, pulling an arm behind his back, and using placing her free hand over his head.

"Uzumaki Naruto, what did I just say?! You can't just go rushing into a fight without any thought - you'll get killed that way!" Chouko barked angrily. "Kakashi-Sensei didn't say start yet. Just calm down." She released her hold on him. "Don't let his words get to you, Naruto. You're so much better than that and you know it."

"R-right." Naruto turned his head to the side hiding his blush.

Kakashi had been impressed with how quickly she reacted. Lord Hokage has commented that for being an Akimichi she was fairly nimble and acrobatic, a trait not commonly found in the Akimichi clan who were built for brute force, and using their body mass to overwhelm their opponents.

"Well, you made and attempt to come at me with the intent to kill. I'm impressed. "Kakashi smiled through his mask, "I'm starting to like you guys."

"Is that enough to get you to show up on time, Sensei?" Chouko raised a brow.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. Her mouth was going to be trouble.

"Get ready..._start!_"

* * *

Everyone immediately split apart and hid from Kakashi's Sensei's view. Sakura was down on the ground hidden beneath a bush, while Sasuke was up high in the same tree as Chouko crouched low, he was only a few branches lower than her. The only one missing was Naruto. Chouko had tried sensing him out and while she could feel a bit of his chakra, she couldn't exactly pinpoint him. He was moving around a lot that she knew for sure, but why?

"What are you up to Naruto?" Chouko sucked on her cheek trying to figure out her best friend's motive.

Her eyes were drawn to the ground as she felt his chakra signature grow closer. Her curiosity turned to irritation as she watched her best friend confront their Sensei one-on-one.

Naruto was her best friend.

She loved him more than most.

But by the Gods, was he an idiot!

"You and me, Sensei! Right now! Let's go!" Naruto shouted at Kakashi.

There was no way that Naruto could take Kakashi-sensei on all by himself. He was a jonin, and his chakra told a tale of strength that none of them could ever hope to match right now. They were in a lose-lose situation. There's was no way any of them stood a chance in hell against a jonin-level ninja, unless...

_'I'm an idiot._' Chouko mentally smacked herself. _'I should have realized this sooner! Of course on our own we don't stand a chance against him, but, if we all work together and combine our strengths as one, then we might just be able to take those bells after all! That's got to be it. This isn't a survival test. It's a test to see if we're able to work together as a team."_

Chouko grinned to herself and got to work thinking of a game plan. The biggest obstacle was figuring out how to get her team to listen to her...

* * *

"You know compared to the others, you're a little bit..._weird_," Kakashi said with a sweatdrop.

"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto shouted and charged at Kakashi.

The Jonin made no effort to move and instead reached into his weapons pouch. Chouko paused in her celebration. Kakashi-Sensei said that they could come at him with everything they've got, but he never said if he would do the same or not. Naruto didn't stand a chance against Kakashi alone, the fool.

Naruto wisely jumped back. He glared suspiciously at the jonin.

"Shinobi battle techniques." Kakashi looked up at the sky as he spoke. "Part one: Taijutsu. The physical art."

'Hand-to-hand combat...then why is he reaching for?...'

The concern Chouko felt was quickly replaced by the dropping of her jaw. Her eyes zeroed in on the little orange book pinched between her Sensei's fingers. Chouko was at a loss for words. Kakashi-Sensei...read that kind of stuff? Her face turned red. She couldn't believe that their Sensei would reach such perverted things in front of them! Chouko was only familiar with the book because her father had the complete set and she had once accidentally looked inside it thinking it held some cool ninja knowledge; she's never regretted anything more in life.

Some things aren't mean to be seen by the ninja's eye.

Chouko shuddered.

"What the fuck?!" Naruto shouted.

"What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi shrugged while skimming over the linked pages.

"But, I mean, why are you reading that book?!" Naruto asked confused.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course! Don't let it bother you though. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or...whatever." Kakashi trailed off flipping to the next page.

Naruto screamed and charged the Jonin with a withdrawn fist. Kakashi was quick to counter all of his attacks, never once blinking, never once breaking a sweat. Chouko watched with wide, starry eyes as Kakashi-sensei moved effortlessly, never looking away from the book but then he suddenly did, appearing behind Naruto with his hands locked in a seal that was unfamiliar to Chouko

"Get back, Naruto!" Chouko yelled and jumped down from her hiding spot in the tree.

Reaching into her kuna pouch she grabbed a handful of shuriken that she quickly tossed at the jonin who easily dodged them all, leaving them stuck in the ground. With Kakashi being temporarily distracted she rushed to Naruto and grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket; she yanked him backward, hands firmly placed on her hips.

"How many times do I have to say it, Naruto?! Why can't you just listen to me for once?!"

"B-bu-tt!"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Chouko yelled. "If this had been the real thing you would have been dead by now, and I would have to watch my best friend get buried! You need to think before you act, Naruto. I'm not going to just stand back and let you get yourself killed, you moron!"

She regretted her choice of words as soon as she saw him flinch away from her.

She felt it, an overwhelming feeling of anger and hurt, and a mixture of fear and regret that squeezed her heart like a vice.

Her eyes widened. These were Naruto's feelings. Why was she feeling them?

Is this...how she made him feel just now?

Chouko looked away feeling regretful of her words. She thought of wanted she wanted to say and picked her words carefully.

"Listen, Naruto, we can't keep running around acting like kids. We're not at the academy anymore, and from this point forward things are going to only get more dangerous. I don't expect you to change who you are, I just want you to be more careful, so I don't lose my best friend."

It took a minute before the words clicked in his head. When he finally realized what she was trying to say it was too late. The snot and tears poured from his face as the Uzumaki boy latched himself onto the Akimichi girl wailing and begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry Chouko, really, I promise that I'll be better! You're not going to lose me! I'm the future Hokage, believe it!"

Chouko smiled bumping her head against his own. "I forgive you. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Naruto." She wiped away his tears and ruffled his hair. "Ready to get serious now?" He nodded and she smiled. "Okay, so listen up, because the only way we're going to pass this test is if we use -"

"It seems you've gone and figured out my grand scheme. What a clever girl."

Chouko shivered feeling a familiar buzz in the air around her. She could feel Kakashi's breath on her neck and it rooted her to the spot she stood. Slowly, very slowly, she turned around to come face-to-face with the smiling masked jonin.

"K-Kakashi-Sensei!" Chouko laughed nervously. "Please...have mercy."

"Nope!"

_'I'm so dead!'_ Chouko paled.

"Never let your enemy get behind you~" Kakashi sang rather eerily.

Kakashi grabbed the genin by her arm and twisted it behind her, his leg swiped beneath her knocking her to the ground and giving her a face full of dirt.

"Isn't that one of the first things they teach you in the academy, Chouko?" He smiled down at the struggling girl. "Better luck next time."

"Oi, get your hands off her, Sensei!"

Chouko internally groaned. She just knew that Sakura was in hysterics over her situation right now. She could feel it in her bones. Sasuke was probably calling her a loser under his breath, and wondering how he got stuck with a team of idiots. Chouko groaned, thrashing around trying to shake the jonin above off of her.

He responded by kindly shoving her face further into the dirt.

Why wasn't her team helping her?! Well, Naruto had tried, but Kakashi easily smacked him away.

Chouko stopped struggling and sighed into the dirt her face was shoved into.

"Will you get off of me already? You're too heavy!" She mumbled with a mouthful of dirt and grime that made the jonin above her chuckle.

"Are you calling me fat?" Kakashi mused, feigning hurt.

Chouko whined banging her head against the ground.

_Why her?!_

"Please, Kakashi-Sensei! This is seriously embarrassing!"

"I think I like you better this way." Kakashi chirped. "You're much more pleasant when you're not speaking."

Chouko swore under her breath

Her Sensei is a dick.

* * *

"Give you friends wings time to grow, Chouko! Yeah, real great advice, mom!"

Chouko just knew in the very depths of her heart that this was going to happen. She didn't expect it to be _this big_ of a failure! None of them had managed to get a bell and all they had to show for their efforts was Naruto hanging upside down from a tree, Sakura unconscious, and Sasuke buried deep within the earth with only his head sticking out, also the reason why Sakura was currently unconscious.

Chouko was the only one left. She was hiding in a tree trying to think of some way to turn this hell situation around. They didn't

The question is, who did she turn to for help?

Chouko looked around for Kakashi-sensei and when she didn't see him, she jumped from the tree and ran to Sasuke's location. Sasuke was reasonable, right? Surely he would have enough common sense to realize the situation by now. At the moment, he seemed like her best option.

Chouko dropped to her knees and started clawing at the dirt in a desperate attempt to unbury him. When her nails proved useless she pulled out her kunai which proved to be far more efficient.

"Hey, Sasuke, when I get you unburied you have to go cut down Naruto, Okay? Then find Sakura and try to wake her up."

"Why waste our time on those losers? We need to worry about getting those bells, Chouko." Sasuke scowled at her. "They're only going to hold us back and you know it. You and I are the only ones capable of doing it."

"You're wrong, Sasuke!" Chouko glared. "Haven't you figured it out yet? The whole point of this test is to evaluate whether we can work together as a team or not. Think about it, there's no way we could get those bells on our own. If we want to even get one of those bells were going to have to work together."

"Then why do I have to go after those two?" He narrowed his eyes.

"It will give me time to locate Kakashi-Sensei," Chouko said. "I can distract him and then you, Naruto, and Sakura can sneak up on him and get the bells! He won't be able to stop all of us."

"Whatever." Though he was rolling his eye there was a hint of a smirk on his face.

_'Finally!'_ Chouko inwardly cheered.

Once he was unburied Chouko gave him a hand and helped him out but in return, she was shoved to the ground as Sasuke took off to do his own thing. She stared at his back as he disappeared into the forest without so much as a word.

What..._what just happened?_

"H-Hey! Sasuke! Are you being serious right now, you jerk?!"

Chouko was ready to give up. What was the point in even trying now? They had already lost the test, and they would all be sent back to the academy and they had no one to blame but themselves.

Chouko sighed and shook her head. She couldn't give up just yet. If her team wasn't willing to cooperate, then she'd just have to go and get the bells for them.

* * *

Kakashi was standing in the middle of the forest with a bored expression and book in hand, "I didn't think you'd ever show up." He said to the Akimichi girl as he turned the page.

He knew she was coming.

_Of course._

Chouko shot him a glare. She positioned herself in a fighting stance, though she had no real plan.

She had to do something though, right?

She couldn't just let everything they had worked for fall apart now.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Kakashi hummed, skimming through his book. "Time is starting to run out and you haven't made very much progress."

"I know that, Sensei. You don't have to remind me." She said hotly under her breath. She stared at the stupid orange book he read with a frown. "What kind of jonin are you? You don't show up on time, you insult your students, and you even read pornography in front of them! You're just a lazy pervert, aren't you?" Chouko glared at the orange book he held dearly. "My dad reads those stupid books. The writing is absolute garbage. I can't even begin to imagine what the person who wrote them is like! The characters are so bland and cliche, and it's full of overused tropes and garbage plot points."

For a moment Kakashi lost all motor function in his brain. "Y-Y-ou've read them?..." He asked with a disbelievable stutter.

Chouko's face turned red. "N-Not like that! It was an accident, I swear! I would never read that garbage purposefully, ever! Don't go getting any perverted thoughts about me, Sensei!" Chouko yelled with a heavy blush covering her chubby cheeks. "I have better things to do than read some cheesy porn book!"

Chouko in her frazzled state lunged at her Sensei in a mad dash, though he effortlessly turned out of the way. Chouko felt that buzzing sensation behind her and turned heel, narrowly missing being grabbed by the jonin. There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes that was gone as soon as it appeared. Chouko spun on her heel drawing a kunai from her pouch and turned to strike, only to meet a block of wood as Kakashi disappeared into thin air.

_Substitution Jutsu._

Chouko's eyes widened as she felt the ghost of breath on her neck. She swiftly turned around and caught the kunai pointed at her throat. Kakashi stood smiling at her looking unfazed. Chouko scowled and cocked her arm back before throwing it forward into the face of her _"Sensei"_, as Kakashi again, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_Clone Jutsu._

Chouko grew annoyed believing Kakashi-Sensei was only playing games and not taking her seriously; he wasn't. Why should he? She's a low-level genin, with no real combat experience, riding off the high of her anger and frustrations and not thinking clearly.

The hair on her arms stood straight warning her of his presence. Chouko performed a backward handspring just as Kakashi-sensei had reappeared, moving rapidly towards her with quick jabs that she could barely keep up with. An electrifying feeling filled the air behind her and her eyes widened as the Kakashi before her disappeared.

_Another clone?!_

She turned around, the moment she did a devastating blow was aimed straight into the core of her gut that launched her in the air, followed by the jonin grabbing her by the wrist and twisting that made her cry out in alarm and pain. Chouko flipped mid-air and was sent spiraling into the ground with a loud crash that shook the area around them. Chouko groaned as an aching sensation washed over her; her body tingled and refused to move, exhausted, and thoroughly beaten.

What...the hell just happened?

_'I got my ass kicked.' _Chouko answered her thoughts.

"Nice try. You were able to successfully dodge more than one of my sneak attacks. I'll give you an A for effort, for an otherwise mediocre performance. He said, ruffling her hair. "And I'll have you know that Icha Icha Paradise is a passionate tale of a fiery love between a man and a woman with undertones of humor and enjoyable slice of life moments."

Chouko sweatdropped. Was he really going to go into a full-blown review of his stupid book?

Despite her situation, she smirked up at him.

"Neh, Neh, Sensei, maybe if you focused on finding a real flesh and blood woman, then you wouldn't have to read such cheesy porn books, yeah?" Chouko snickered. "Or maybe your dates always leave because you never show up one time?"

Kakashi sighed. "You really are a pain in the ass, you know that?" He said before knocking her unconscious with a strike to the back of the head with what she knew was a cocky smirk on his dumb, masked face.

Her Sensei was a dick but was undeniably a skilled jonin.

...And pretty cool, too.

She'd burn in hell before she admitted that to his face.

* * *

Chouko was really starting to believe her Sensei had it out for her...

Not even ten minutes later after her and Kakashi's mini-fight did she find herself waking up, tied to the promised post that Kakashi-sensei had warned them about and not only that, her mouth was gagged and she just knew that was to add insult to injury. It wasn't even fair! Why was _she _the one tied to the post?!

She was the one who did everything right!

"You guys look really hungry!" Kakashi-Sensei gleefully taunted them. Chouko's stomach growled on cue making her groan. "Oh, by the way, the result of this training session is in and...none of you will be returning to the ninja academy."

Chouko didn't like the tone of his voice...

Sakura blinked. "What? But all I did was scream and faint. That was really okay?" She asked.

"Then does that mean?..." Naruto trailed off already becoming tearful.

Sasuke and Chouko were silent. Something felt off.

"Yup! You four should pursue different careers because you're not cut out to be a ninja." His voice was even and his eyes sharp. "All of you are just a bunch of little punks who don't deserve to be a ninja."

"Quit being a ninja?!" Naruto yelled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?!"

Chouko clicked her tongue and used it to push the gag out of her mouth. "That's a little harsh, isn't it? I know we weren't able to get the bells, but still! We've worked so hard to achieve!" She yelled with tears brimming her eyes.

Why had she worked so hard just to be told she failed?!

"Let me say it again: none of you deserve to be a ninja," Kakashi repeated.

Chouko didn't even have the energy to sigh as Sasuke charged at Kakashi with a kunai drawn. He had been pinned down rather quickly and was left squirming under Kakashi-Sensei's hold.

"See? You're all just no-good kids." Kakashi sighed.

"DON'T STEP ON SASUKE!" Sakura shrieked.

"Do you all think being a ninja is easy?" Kakashi-Sensei asked sharply. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

Chouko hung her head with a defeated sigh.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned.

"In other words, three of you didn't understand the value of this test." Kakashi eyed the solemn Akimichi in the front. "Only one of you was able to determine the answer to this pass or fail test..."

"Only one?" Sakura whispered.

She looked from Naruto and Sasuke and then finally Chouko, who was silently crying with gritted teeth.

"Geez, are your brains empty? You really don't understand why you're in a group?" Kakashi said.

"What's the big deal about people being in a group?!" Naruto yelled. "Are you going to tell us or what!?"

_"Teamwork!"_ He said sternly. "The four of you working together may have gotten the bells. That's too bad."

Sakura blinked and thought for a minute.

"Wait a minute! What's the point in teamwork when there are only three bells? Even if we were to work together and get the bells, one of us would still fail! A group conflict would surely occur instead of teamwork." She yelled jumping to her feet in defense of herself.

"You're missing the point!" Chouko yelled. "That's the whole point, Sakura. The point of the test is to purposefully pit us all against one another. The purpose is to see whether we can prioritize teamwork before ourselves...but obviously, we found out that answer."

Chouko scowled. She had tried getting them to listen to her all afternoon but not one of them had - _not even Naruto!_ It was incredibly frustrating to know that she couldn't even depend on the people she was supposed to trust her lives with, in a basic training exercise.

"Sakura! You were only concerned about Sasuke even when you didn't know where he was." Kakashi barked. "You didn't even care about Naruto who was right beside you the whole time! You were too focused on Sasuke and your selfishness!"

Sakura blushed hanging her head.

"Naruto! The whole time you were just running around by yourself." Kakashi said. "There were several times were Chouko had to step in and intervene to stop you from getting yourself hurt, and in the end, you still ignored everything she had to say and acted without a thought!"

Naruto gasped and looked to Chouko who was eying the ground with half-lidded eyes.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi glared at the boy pinned beneath him. "You labeled the others as hindrances and acted as on your own. You assumed the others would just get in your way, and even turned your back on your teammate when she reached out to you for help; the worst thing you can do in a situation like this."

Sasuke twitched underneath the jonin gritting his teeth.

Kakashi sighed. "Chouko," He called, startling the girl who refused to look at him. "You tried to get your teammates to work together, and for that I applaud you, but when you deemed everything hopeless you gave up and started acting brash; there were several times where you let your guard down and I was able to ambush you."

Chouko bit the fat of her lip fully aware of the fact she was crying.

"The duties of the village are done by a squad," Kakashi said. "There's no mistaking that ninjas need unsurpassed individual skills...but what's even more important is "Teamwork". Individual actions like you all carried out today can disrupt your teamwork and throw your comrades into crisis and even death."

Chouko stiffened at the thought of one of her teammates dying because of her.

"For example..." Kakashi reached inside of his ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai. "Sakura! Kill Naruto, or else Sasuke dies!"

"What?!" They - _including Chouko_ \- yelled.

"You see? In the event of a hostage situation, you are faced with two impossible choices and end up being killed." Their Sensei said as he twirled his kunai before stuffing it back into his pouch. "Every mission is a life-risking assignment.

Kakashi got off of Sasuke but the genin hesitated to move. He beckoned them towards a stone that was filled with names.

"Looks at this, the numerous names carved onto this stone," Kakashi said somberly. Chouko frowned picking up the sadness hidden in his voice, and the deep undertones of regret. "These are all ninja who are called heroes in the village."

"That-that-that-that! I like thaaat!" Naruto yelled. "I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! Hero! That's what I'll become! I'm not going to die like some kind of dog!"

"Naruto!" Chouko snapped. "Your name will never be on the stone!" She hissed, eyes wide and full of fury as she stared down the confused blond.

"Huh, but why?" He asked innocently. "Don't you believe I can do it?"

"Naruto...that's not..." Chouko sighed and shook her head.

"These aren't normal heroes." Kakashi sighed.

"Then what kind of heroes are they?!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

"They are heroes who were killed in action."

"K-Killed in action?" Naruto gulped.

"It means they died in battle, Naruto." Sakura frowned. "This is a memorial to them."

The atmosphere around them grew heavy with the thickness of melancholy. The five of them shared a moment of silence as they remember the lives of the heroes who fought dutifully for their village, and never returned.

"The names of my friends are also engraved on here," Kakashi said breaking the silence. "I'll give you one more chance. However, afternoon it will be a harsher battle to take the bell. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch. But, don't give any to Chouko."

"Why do you hate me?!" Chouko whined. "S-Seriously, Sensei? Isn't that kind of unfair?" The Akimichi's stomach grumbled in response. Chouko groaned and slammed her head against the post. "Fine, sure, whatever! I don't even care."

Her stomach rumbled again. Chouko scowled and told it to shut up.!'

"Consider it your punishment for being a mouthy little brat." Kakashi smiled through his mask.

Chouko doubted that. She knew that it was really because she insulted his dumb book.

"Anyone caught giving food to Chouko will be disqualified on the spot," Kakashi said while handing out everyone's bento boxes. "I am the rules here. Got it?"

Chouko was right all along.

This day turned out to be utter hell.

* * *

Chouko stiffly sat with her back to the post and her bottom planted on the ground, enviously watching as her team enjoyed their delicious smelling lunches. Her stomach roared at every given chance, demanding a sacrificial offering of food that she wasn't allowed to have. She hadn't eaten anything today. Proteins bars and her dad's concoction hardly counted as food.

Naruto looked at her pitifully. He looked from his lunch to Chouko who was trying her hardest not to let her hunger show. He opened his mouth but was silenced by Chouko shaking her head and grinning largely at him.

"Stop worrying about me, Naruto. I'm fine. This is no sweat at all!" Chouko laughed. Her stomach disagreed. "Uhh...ignore that, that's just from my dad's cooking! It was really bad so I've been having really bad stomach aches all day! Yeah, that's it..."

It wasn't...a complete lie, but no one believed her.

Sasuke looked at the quivering Akimichi while remembering the days earlier events. He sighed and held his bento box out to her.

"Here." He said, shoving it in her face. "Eat this so your stomach will shut up."

"H-Hey Sasuke! Sensei said that!..." Sakura said, trailing off in search of Kakashi-Sensei.

"It's fine. There's no sign of him now so it should be fine." Sasuke said. "After lunch, the four of us are going to work together to take those bells like we were originally supposed to do. Without food, she'll just be in the way and that will only hurt us and besides, we need her. She's able to pick up on his movements better than the rest of us."

"S-Sasuke!" Chouko's eyes widened.

_'Never knew he had it in him to care about someone other than himself.'_ She thought with a sad smile. _'Maybe I've been misreading them...I need to put more effort into this team, too.'_

"Hey! I'm the one who is going to feed Chouko, believe it!" Naruto pointed angrily at Sasuke. "She's my best friend and you're just trying to steal her, aren't you?!"

"That's not it at all, you moron!" Sasuke yelled back prompting an argument between the two.

Sakura looked down at her bento before a determined expression took over her face. She picked up her bento and sat down in front of Chouko with puffed cheeks and a light blush. "Here, Chouko." She said shoving the box forward. "Hurry up and eat it before Sensei comes back."

Chouko stared at her.

"What? Just eat it already!" Sakura yelled.

"No." Chouko glared at her. "You need it more, idiot! And don't you dare even give me that diet excuse because I thought I already told you, that you're perfectly fine just the way -"

"SHUT UP AND EAT!"

Chouko yelped as she knocked her over the head with her fist.

"Ow, that hurt, Sakura!"

Sakura growled shoving a chopstick full of rice into Chouko's mouth. The Akimichi gagged and forcefully swallowed the lump of rice that was quite good. She bet that her mother made it. Sakura had parents who were wonderful at cooking.

'You could be more gentle." Chouko blushed. "But...I appreciate it, so, thanks." She said, looking away bashfully. "You can be cool sometimes I guess..."

"Just sometimes?" Sakura smirked.

The two shared a smile before realizing it and quickly looking away. Sakura was preparing another bite for Chouko when a thick cloud of smoke filled the area and their lungs; Sakura gagged fanning the smoke away from her and the bound Akimich's face.

The buzzing was now a loud rumbling.

Kakashi had found them, and he was mad.

"What is this?!" Kakashi yelled. "You went and defiled my rules so you know what is coming!..." He said as he prepared hand signs that formed a heavy stormcloud above them black as night.

Lightning rumbled around them and shook the area with a ferociousness that Chouko had never seen before.

"Do you have anything to say?" He asked the shaking genin.

"Hey. don't blame them, Sensei! It's not their fault. They were only trying to look out for me!" Chouko yelled. "You have to punish me instead of -"

"_No_, that's not how it works." Sasuke cut her off. "We're a four-man squad, right?" Sasuke smirked at Kakashi. "Iruka warned us that we were going to have our troubles cut out for us, didn't he? So we have to learn to deal with them, together."

"That's right! The four of us are one, so you can't punish one of us for looking out for the other!" Sakura nodded.

"That's right! That's right! That's right!" Naruto yelled. "You better believe that we're a team and that we're going to look out for each other regardless of what you say Sensei! Right, Chouko?!"

Chouko looked away from her grinning teammates with watery eyes. "Man, you guys are so damn corny." She sniffled. "But yeah! Their right! How can you expect us to just sit back why our comrade is suffering?! It's unconventional and goes against everything you just told us, Sensei! It's like..."

Chouko gasped.

Then sweatdropped.

And finally, sent a pointed glare at their Sensei that just screamed: _"I hate you, asshole!"_

"Oh, is that so?" Kakashi-Sensei asked as he crouched in front of them who all crowded around Chouko ready to defend her. "Well, then, you pass!" Kakashi said with a closed-eye smile and his hands held in the shape of a heart; Chouko wanted to vomit.

All four of their faces were bewildered as they stared at their Sensei like some kind of new species.

"We passed? Why?" Sakura asked puzzled.

"You guys are the first," Kakashi said as the sky above them cleared to reveal fat, puffy clouds that Chouko temporarily got lost in; she wondered if Shikamaru saw them too. "Up until now, it was just dunces who would meekly listen to what I said. They were just a bunch of morons. All ninja must see underneath the underneath. Listen to my next words closely, you four."

Chouko leaned forwards having broken away from the clouds. She listened closely, wondering what their Sensei was going to tell them, unaware that it would forever change the path of her future as a ninja.

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Chouko looked down at the ground with a soft smile on her face. There was no chance in hell that she would ever abandon her friends, even if they did get on her nerves like no other.

"He's...he's...kind of cool," Naruto said with watery eyes. Chouko agreed with him.

"That's the end of the training!" Kakashi stuck up a thumb. "You all pass. Team Seven starts their first mission tomorrow!"

"Yes, Sir!" Sakura and Chouko chirped.

"I did it! I'm a ninja! I'm a ninja!" Naruto cheered tearfully.

Sasuke looked at him with a sigh, but there was no ill intention behind it; he too was happy, just more subtle than the others.

"Let's go home!' Kakashi chirped walking ahead with a chittering Naruto and smirking Sasuke.

Chouko stared at them. They weren't really leaving...were they? Okay, Naruto she could believe would be simple enough to forget her...Sasuke too, maybe...

But Kakashi?

_No chance in hell._

"Hey! What was the whole emotional monologue about teamwork for, if you're just going to go and leave me behind, you jerks?!"

Chouko yelled trying to reach her kunai pouch; the ropes were snuggled secured and refused to budge.

Chouko cursed Kakashi's name under her breath and hoped that the jonin suffered greatly in terms of a little orange book suddenly combusting into flames.

"Stop wiggling around so much! How am I supposed to cut through the ropes if you kee fidgeting so much? Geez, calm down."

Chouko stopped. She was surprised to find that Sakura had stayed back. She was sure that she would have taken off after Sasuke in a desperate attempt to get him to go on a date with her, or something. She would have never expected her to stay back and help her more than she already did.

"Just about...there!" Sakura smirked, holding up the broken rope. "Wasn't so hard, was it?

Chouko sighed happily and stretched her achy bones. She glanced at Sakura with a blush.

"Thanks, again, I guess." She pouted. "I could have probably gotten myself out of there, eventually." She huffed knowing it was a bluff. "But, I'm glad you stuck around. I can't believe those jerks just left me here!"

Naruto was going to get an earful later!

"Consider this my way of apologizing...for today, I mean. Don't think this makes us friends or anything, Akimichi!" She yelled with a pointed finger.

"You and I? Friends? Wouldn't dream of it, Haruno." Chouko laughed.

Sakura stared at Chouko before a thought dawned on her. She rummaged around her weapons pouch for a moment, before pulling out a yellow, dirty ribbon. "Here, this got lost during your scuffle with Kakashi-Sensei. I found it after I woke up." Sakura said, pushing away some of Chouko's hair to tie the ribbon back in place.

Chouko quietly stared into Sakura's emerald eyes. Why did she care if the ribbon got lost or not? It's not like it held the same sentimental value to Sakura as it did Chouko...right?

"Ah, I didn't notice. Thanks."

"Why do you even still wear this? It's so old..."

"It's my lucky charm."

The words came out before she even realized she was saying them.

"I-I mean, just forget what I said!"

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, sure." She smiled, pulling her hands away. "Be more careful. I gave you that for a reason. It's looks pretty on you."

"R-right..." Chouko looked away. "We should get going now. You might still be able to catch up with Sasuke if you try hard enough."

Sakura's eyes widened as a shrill squeal tore throughout the training grounds. _"SASUUUUUKEEEEE!"_ Sakura cried dashing off in the Uchiha's direction.

Chouko tugged at the ribbon in her hair that was tied extra tight so that it wouldn't come loose. She smiled, thinking back to the day Sakura gave her the ribbon as a declaration of their friendship.

She missed when they were friends.

* * *

Chouko sat in a field of tall grass surrounded by flowers and a veil of trees that stretched into the heavens. She sat with her legs crossed and arms folded neatly in her lap, one hand cupping the other; the wind rustled around her softly, caressing her face as the fallen leaves of the trees danced around her in a hypnotic dance. Her eyes were shut tightly and her body was relaxed as she focused on her surroundings and breathed easily, never moving an inch, the only sound coming from her were the softs sound of her breathing.

Chouko inhaled and exhaled in slow sessions. She felt the movement passing through her body from her head to her shoulders, as well as her chest and belly; her attention to her surroundings drifted to the creaking of the branches as they swayed in the afternoon wind to the tune of the songs the birds were chattering. She drifted away from the forest and to the stream of gentle water that ran through the meadow fields. The sound of the babbling brook brought a sense of comfort and ease to her that was welcomed after a long, and tiresome day. She contemplated breaking her meditative trance to peer up at the unending crystal-blue sky, sprinkled with cotton candy clouds and peaks of sunshine; streaked with soaring birds, and the squeaking chatter that followed them.

Maybe she would dip her feet into the ebbing water, where a fresh batch of the cutest yellow ducklings she had ever seen, recently made their home.

Chouko believed that every ninja and civilian in the world had a place to call their own, where they could go and forget the world around them; Shikamaru had the grassy hill with the best view of the clouds, and Naruto had Ichiraku ramen, while Ino had her family's flower shop, but this place - this little meadow hidden within the hidden- is her special place, where she comes to clear her mind and forget the world around her.

It had become a ritual for her to come to meditate and train. After meditating to clear her head she would work on her stretches and then ease into her daily training routine. Chouko inhaled and exhaled once more, feeling the tension leave her body as she clapped her hands together, and allowed her eyes to flutter open to being greeted by the afternoon sun.

Chouko smiled to herself and pulled her hair into a tight, short ponytail that sat lop-sided against her head. Chouko's eyes burned with a newfound fire as she stretched out her muscles; she slowly fell into a position of one leg pressed forward and the other bent backward as she leaned forward with her hands pressed tightly together. The position was far from comfortable and her joints and muscles groaned in protest as the sweat gathered on her forehead, but Chouko pressed on, holding the position for a couple of solid minutes before releasing.

She thinks back to her earlier days in the academy where they would all whine and protest whenever they had to do their daily stretches and warm-ups, and laughs, realizing how silly she had been. Stretching is an essential part of training her body, allowing her to increase her overall flexibility and accomplish more without getting tired too fast. It also helped with preventing injuries to her joints with the strain of training and helping better her posture which admittedly, wasn't the greatest.

Not only that, over the years she found that she liked to explore her athletic capabilities.

At times, she would stick a leaf to her forehead while training, to focus on her concentration and push herself a little bit harder; it wasn't the most difficult task in the world, but sometimes her mind liked to wonder, so it always helped to keep her focused on those days where her mind seemed too clouded for her own good.

Chouko spent around thirty minutes doing her stretches before deciding to move onto something else. She patted her double ninja packs that were stuffed with many ninja tools such a kunai, shuriken, makibishi spikes, and much, much more - an overly prepared weapon nut, Asuma had called her. Chouko couldn't disagree with him. She had always had a slight obsession and fascination with weapons, and began collecting them at an early age; she had a wide variety of tools and trinkets in her collection that she took pride in.

Chouko stared out in the distance of the meadow where a set of crudely made, wooden dummies stood, teetering on their flimsy sticks that barely supported their bodies made of fallen logs. She had made them tp help improve with her target practice, but they were beginning to wear and would soon wither into dust. It made her sad, as she had spent a lot of time making them just right and impaling them with her weapons; she'd miss them.

Her hand had just wrapped around a kunai when the air around her stilled, and the natures remedy that had filled her ears until that point stopped, and the echo of fallen twigs snapping on the ground brought her attention back to reality as she gripped the kunai tightly, and spun around to strike the one who dares try to sneak up on her...

...Only to fall flat as she stared into the wide eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, who looked on the verge of tears with the sharpened blade pointed directly at his throat that bobbled, with every swallow he managed through quivering lips.

"H-Hey! Take it easy Chouko! It's me, Naruto! The future Hokage, and your best friend who you would never stab, he-he-he, eh, r-right?"

Chouko stared at Naruto in surprise for what felt like a solid moment before she dropped her kunai with a heavy sigh. "Don't go sneaking up on people, Naruto. Hey, how did you even find me here?" She asked, knowing that she had never shown Naruto this spot before.

As much as she loved him, there were times where she desired to be alone.

Naruto scratched his cheek and pointed behind him to where Sakura and Sasuke stood.

"Sakura showed us! We looked all over for you and couldn't find you anywhere, so Sakura brought us here! She said that you would be here and I guess she was right!" Naruto smiled and nodded as the pieces clicked together.

This didn't surprise Chouko. The only other people who knew of this spot were Sakura and Ino. There was a meadow none too far away that they would go to collect flowers and play when they were little. Their own little world, they would say. Chouko frowned at the memories of three little girls sitting in a field of flowers, making crowns and ragging on the boys of their class and discussing their dreams for the future.

What happened to all of that? How did it ever get to this point?

Chouko shook her head and sighed while tucking her kunai back into her pouch.

"Oh, so now you remember me, huh? You sure weren't thinking about me when you left me tied to that post, Naruto." Chouko poked his chest with a visible pout. "How the hell could you just leave me behind like that, huh?!"

"It was an accident! I was so excited about the mission and then I got hungry and started thinking about ramen and, well, ya know..."

The blond chuckled sheepishly as Chouko hung her head. She feared that there would be a day to come where Naruto would be forced to pick her or ramen, and honestly, she wasn't sure which one he would choose, but it left a bad feeling in her stomach.

Sakura clicked her tongue and smacked her fist over Naruto's head. "Idiot! Do you ever think with your brain and not your stomach?!" She glared, hands on her hips and firm glare on her face. "Anyway, we were looking for you because...we wanted to apologize, for everything that happened earlier. We should have listened to what you were saying."

Sakura grumbled, a heavy blush on her pale cheeks.

"S-So I'm - errr, I mean - we're sorry, okay?"

The pinkette finished with a sigh that had Chouko grinning.

She'd never admit that it brought her a sense of joy to see Sakura have to push aside her pride.

"Oh yeah?" She looked over at Sasuke who had one hand tucked in his pocket while the other held a small pink box. "You too, Sasuke? Wow. I'm flattered." Chouko grinned, enjoying the way his eye and body twitched. "The great Uchiha Sasuke cares about little Akimichi Chouko! Oh _Sasuke-Kun_, I'm so happy!~"

Sasuke scowled and turned his head away from her. Is he blushing?

Hah! The bastard does have feelings.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and thrust the pink box into her face. "Take this, dummy. Consider it an apology gift from all of us, or whatever." He said, letting his free hand fall into his other pocket.

Naruto and Sakura elbowed Sasuke who looked away with a visible twitch.

"S-Sorry, I guess."

"S-Sasuke you're apologizing?! To me!? Are you sick?" Chouko pressed her hand to his head. "You feel kind of warm. Might be time to see a doctor."

"Knock it off you twit!" The Uchiha scowled smacking her hand away.

Chouko laughed. There's the Uchiha she tolerated!

Chouko chuckled and looked down at the box that had been forced into her hands.

Chouko blinked. "A gift?" She mused opening the lid. "You didn't have to go out of your way and - _DANGO?!_" Chouko squealed, eyeing the colorful dumplings strewn on a stick. "Ah, mochi, too?!" She drooled, eyeing the plump little cakes. "How did you know these are my favorite?"

"We used to eat these all the time, remember?" Sakura smiled. "We'd eat these and have little tea parties whenever our mothers were visiting with each other. Ino used to get so mad at you for not using proper table manners."

"She stills yells at me about that." Chouko grinned sheepishly.

"We got them from that fancy bakery that you're always eyeing!" Naruto grinned. "It was really expensive so I hope they don't taste like shit!"

_"NARUTO!"_ Sakura scolded slapping her head.

"You idiot." Sasuke scowled. "That's not the point." He rolled his eyes and looked back to Chouko who had stuffed a ball of mochi into her mouth; her fat cheeks were puffed out, and she practical stars shining in her eyes as tears collected like raindrops in her vision.

Sasuke twitched. He felt this was going to become a habit around these three.

Chouko swallowed the lump of cake and gave a wobbly smile. "It tastes amazing! Uh, thanks, guys. It wasn't necessary though." Chouko said. "I wasn't exactly perfect either, and could have done a lot more, but I gave up when it got too hard." Chouko clenched her fist and stared at the ground.

She had to do better next time.

Sakura sighed. "There's no use sitting around and playing the blame game. We're all just going to have to do a lot better from now on, right? We're a team now, and that means we have to look out for each other." Sakura smiled and held out her pinky to the confused trio. "Let's make a promise, okay? That from now on we'll do our best to get stronger and become the kind of ninja that Kakashi-sensei is."

Chouko cringed. "If we leave out the perverted part, then I guess I can agree to that." She said, stepping forward and holding out her pinky...she hesitated, before curling it around Sakuras. Their eyes met, and they shared a small smile.

"I'm going to become an even better ninja than Sensei, believe it!" Naruto yelled joining in. "I have to do better because one day I'm going to become the Hokage and everyone is going to respect me and look up to me, right, Chouko?" Naruto said excitedly while wrapping his pinky around Chouko and Sakuras.

"That's right! Everyone trusts their lives to the Hokage, and they'll be counting on you to lead them and protect them, Naruto." Chouko said.

Naruto giggled to himself imagining all the fans he would have when he became Hokage. Sakura sweatdropped and nervously called out to Sasuke but the worlds faltered on her tongue as she looked away, blushing and mumbling to herself. Chouko snorted, not bothering to call out to the Uchiha, instead she grabbed him by the scruff oh his shirt while ignoring his swearing and insults, as she pulled him into their circle of magical friendship.

"You're either in or out. Are you going to get stronger too, are you going to sit back on the sideline and be bested by Naruto?" Chouko smirked knowing she hit a sore spot.

Sasuke glared and slapped her hand away. "This is pointless." He huffed but offered out his pinky that the others greedily snatched. "As if I'd ever be outdone by this loser." He smirked Naruto's way, gripping his pinky tighter.

Naruto stood stunned for a second, a blush on his sunkissed face. Reality came rushing back him as the others called out him; he'd been staring for a solid minute, and they were getting worried. Sasuke had turned away, face flushed and eyebrow twitching.

"S-Shut up, bastard!" Naruto huffed. "Alright then! From here on out we're going to become the best ninja the village has ever seen!"

They silently counted to three before throwing their hands into the air with cheers that echoed throughout the meadow, that for so long Chouko had hoarded to herself.

Maybe, just this once, she could share her place of happiness.

Chouko smiled and picked up her box of treats. "You know, I can't eat all these by myself." She lied. She could very much eat them by herself. "So I guess you guys are just going to have to help me!"

Sasuke was the only one to object.

More for them, then.

* * *

Chouko was huffing and trembling. A gurgled cry pushed through her swollen lip that dripped blood as the wind was knocked out of her lungs, as she was sent flying backward onto her ass. She scowled and lifted her legs to flip back onto her feet. Her seafoam eyes were set in a glare towards the Uchiha bastard.

Her body ached, but she pushed forward

Sasuke smirked. "Is that all you can do? How pathetic. And here I was beginning to think you weren't completely hopeless." Sasuke fanned his hand in a come-hither motion that made her twitch. "I guess all the rumors about the Akimichi clan are true then, huh, tubby."

Chouko stiffened. She knew he was trying to get a reaction out of her...and it worked. She lunged at him with her fist drawn back and went to strike; Sasuke preempted her move and dodged out of the way. He grabbed her by the wrist and twisted it behind her back, ignoring her pained scream as he shoved her face into the ground.

Wow.

_This felt all too familiar._

Chouko groaned. "Oi, get off! Damn it! You win again, Uchiha." Chouko huffed rolling away from the ravenette who released his hold on her. "I'll kick your ass next time though." She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Oi! Naruto, you doing alright there?"

Sasuke and Chouko focused their attention on Naruto and Sakura who were locked in a kunai spar. The two were heavily going at it with Sakura using her charm to her advantage, which eventually won out causing the blond-haired boy to falter and miscalculate his next move, allowing Sakura to kick the kunai from his hand and pin him.

"_Chaaa!_ I win! Did you see, Sasuke?!" Sakura squealed doing a twirl. _'I kicked his ass!'_ Her inner-voice cheered, pumping a celebratory fist.

Chouko was mildly surprised. Sakura was able to hold her own pretty well in a fight...when she wasn't distracted by Sasuke, that is.

"Tch. Not bad." Sasuke smirked. "You really are a loser to get defeated so easily by a girl."

"SAY THAT TO MY FACE, BASTARD!"

"I just did, moron!"

Chouko sweatdropped as Naruto and Sasuke delved into a heated argument. She figured that they just needed to kiss and make up already. She busied herself by wiping the blood from her mouth and patching up her wounds with the medical supplies she kept in her pouches.

She looked at her team with fondness, thinking that they were starting to come together...albeit slowly, they were taking baby steps to become something greater, she thought.

_Give their wings time to grow, huh?_

She felt that today, they had grown just a little.

"NARUTO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF SASUKE!"

"BUT SAKURA!"

_Just a little._

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto had settled their little debut in a fight that left Sasuke the winner, and Naruto a grumbling mess as the two sat on the ground watching the sparring match between Chouko and Sakura; Naruto was conflicted. Who did he vote for? The so-called love of his life or his very best friend? The Uzumaki boy fidgeted in his spot mumbling under his breath, annoying the Uchiha who flicked him in the head.

"Shut up you loser. Focus on the fight." Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto flipped Sasuke off and went back to watching the fight with a pout on his face.

Sakura threw up her forearms in an offensive stance as Chouko flicked her fist towards her in fast, repetitive jabs that left the pinkette short-winded as she hurriedly ducked left and right, surprised by the ferociousness the girl was hitting her with.

Sakura waited for the moment that Chouko's eyes left her and struck, but her fist met empty air as the Chouko before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sakura gasped and whirled around, finding the real Chouko charging at her while preparing hand signs that when completed, had her flickering out of sight and behind the pinkette who realized too late; she felt a heavy blow to the back of her head that had her stumbling forward.

Sakura caught herself and whirled around, lifting her leg high and slamming her knee forcibly into Chouko's face. The chubby girl let out a gurgled cry as she stumbled backward, surprised that Sakura had been able to recover so fast from her surprise attack. The attack left Chouko disoriented and her vision fuzzy; her head was throbbing, and she knew that she was going to have the worst headache later.

Chouko shook herself back into action and dived out of the way as Sakura charged at her with a kunai; she twisted her body, grabbing Sakura by the wrist and throwing her body onto the ground. Chouko pinned Sakura's arm behind her back and dug her knee into the small of her back to keep her still as her free hand held her head down; she announced her victory with a smirk.

It was refreshing to be the one on top for once.

"THAT WAS AWESOME CHOUKO!" Naruto cheered for his friend. "Uh, sorry that you lost, Sakura. I totally thought you had her for a minute!" The boy quickly said with reddening cheeks.

Sasuke scoffed. "The victor was obvious from the moment the fight started," Sasuke said, walking over to Chouko and giving her a hand up while Naruto helped a bruised and groaning Sakura to her feet. "Not bad, tubby," Sasuke said with a smirk and raised fist.

Chouko laughed. "Yeah? Thanks, grumpy." Chouko pounded his fist and wiped the sweat and blood from her face. "Man, she doesn't look like much but she can really pack a punch," Chouko mumbled, rubbing her swollen and bruised cheek. "Sakura, you okay? Didn't kick your ass too hard, did I?" She asked, genuinely feeling concerned.

Sakura waved her off arching her stiff back. "I'll live." She sighed. "I thought I was going to win, chaaa!" She growled pulling at her hair. "Next time you won't get so lucky, Akimichi! I'm going to beat you good, got it?!" Sakura yelled with a fire blazing behind her smoldering green eyes.

_Her chakra felt strong._

It excited her.

"Not a chance, Haruno."

* * *

In one of the tallest trees, the meadow had to offer sat Hatake Kakashi, leaned back against the thick and sturdy bark with his favorite little book pinched between his fingers. He sat in the shade of the tree watching as his squad trained feverishly. He felt a fondness growing for them as they beat each other senseless.

"I really am starting to like you morons." He said with that signature smile of his as he went back to reading his book.

Kakashi's face twitched as Chouko called him a lazy pervert.

_That one_ is still a work in progress.

* * *

**EndNote:** God I missed this. I really love writing about these nerds, too.

I swear not all chapters are going to be this long!...I think, hopefully?


	3. Enter Tazuna

**A/n:** Sorry for the delay everyone. I'd love to able to pump out chapters like I used to do but that's just unfortunately not a possibility for me anymore. Please b patient with me as I'll try to update as frequently as I can. This chapter is shorter than what I normally post by a large margin but I wanted something to tie you over while I worked on making the next chapter longer and more exciting, and I felt bad for making you wait for so long.e

Thank you all for your continued support : )

* * *

Chouko hadn't known what to expect from her first mission on an official team. She didn't think it would anything too grueling being their first mission and all, but at the very least she thought it would have been something more...challenging, and while it was certainly...unique, it turned out to be a rather big disappointment.

She would have preferred going toe-to-toe with rogue ninja over getting mauled by a demented cat that was hell-bent on escaping from its overbearing owner. It had taken them far longer to catch the mangy feline than it should have and it ended up with all of them covered in claw marks and a strong distrust for any cat that looked at them the wrong way.

Chouko felt no ounce of pity for the cat as it struggled to wiggle free from the iron lock it's the owner had on it. Torda, the demonic cat, mewled pitifully as his owner, Madam Shijimi, practically squeezed all nine lives out of his body. Chouko could somewhat understand the cat's desperation now, but that did little to change her opinion as she picked at the scabbed over scratch covering her cheek.

"Ohhh, my cute, sweet little Tora-Chan! I was so worried." The large woman cried. "Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins, yes!"

"Sweet? Get real." Chouko grumbled. 'Dumb cat probably ran away from home because it was being star - _oompf! _\- what was that for, Sensei?!"

Chouko glared at the jonin who was pretending as if he hadn't just clunked her over the head with his fist. The Akimichi girl crossed her arms with a pout while trying to ignore the throbbing of her noggin.

Naruto scratched his head with a grimace. "Serves him right, that stupid cat!" He said bitterly, having gotten the worst injuries out of the situation.

Tora didn't like Naruto.

"No wonder he ran away..." Sakura sighed.

"That fleabag needs to put down." Sasuke scowled.

Chouko snickered at the large slash across his face that was bright red.

Thoe Hokage loudly cleared his throat. He sucked on his pipe, staring at them from underneath his hat that shadowed his wrinkled face. "The next mission for Squad Seven is..." He drawled, reading over the list in his old, wrinkled hand. "An errand is requested in the neighboring town, babysitting the Chief Councilor's three-year-old boy, helping with digging for potatoes, eh...helping his wife do the shopping -"

_"NO!"_ Naruto yelled. "Noooo! I want to go on a real mission! Give us something challenging and not this little kid stuff, old man!"

Chouko, annoyed by the day's events, agreed.

"No disrespect to you Lord Hokage, but I agree with Naruto." She sighed exasperatedly. "These aren't even really missions, are they? We're just doing chores for people who are too lazy to do them themselves. We can't get stronger by chasing after stupid cats all days and plucking potatoes..." The girl huffed kicking at the ground.

_'They have a point.'_ Sasuke thought. _'These tasks are pointless.'_

_'Man...their such a pain!' _Sakura huffed with a twitch. _'Geez...can't believe I agree with them.'_

Kakashi's shoulders slumped as he silently sighed. He expected this out of Naruto but held hope that Chouko would reign him in and keep his mouth in line.

"You idiots! How dare you?!" Iruka-Sensei who had been quiet until now, shouted, slamming his palms onto the desk and glaring down the disrespectful rookies. "You're just rookies with no experience! Everyone starts with simple missions to work their way up to develop their skills and prove themselves!"

"But it has been nothing but crappy missions so far and we're sick of it!" Naruto shouted back.

"Iruka-Sensei if I wanted to garden and deal with a snot-nosed brat then I would have just stayed home." Chouko sighed.

"You two! Be quiet and listen! It is necessary to explain to you what a mission is." Kakashi sighed. "It's not something you can simply look over, understand?"

The two nodded reluctantly. Kakashi smiled and patted their heads like obedient pups. Chouko growled and snapped at him, crying out when he flicked her in the nose and called her a bad girl in a tone similar to a disappointed parent.

Chouko tried smacking his hand away from her but Kakashi held her in place by the head, eyes crinkling in amusement at her futile attempts to throttle him.

She wanted to kick his ass.

"Naruto, Chouko, it seems that the two of you do not understand the request that pours into our village each day." The Hokage said to them, drawing their attention back to it. "They range from babysitting to assassinations. Every request is carefully categorized and analyzed, and them from A, B, D, or D, depending on the level of their difficulty. The Hokage stands at the top and jonin, chunin, and genin at the bottom. The missions are then handed out by us at the top to the ninja of the village based on their abilities. A successful mission draws in revenue from our clients, which then goes into supporting the village. You are all inexperienced genin. D-Rank is perfect for you."

Truthfully...the group wasn't listening. They were more interested in hearing about what Naruto had for dinner the previous night, that had Chouko's stomach rumbling and her mouth-watering. The Hokage snapping at them pulled all of their attention back to the rambling old man. Kakashi chuckled nervously, having felt embarrassed about getting caught in their shenanigans.

"I-I apologize, Lord Hokage." Kakashi-Sensei drawled sheepishly.

"Maaaan! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not that little prankster you think I am anymore! I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission! I have to get stronger so that I can protect the people and fulfill my duties at the future Hokage of the village!" Naruto yelled. "They're going to be counting on me to protect and lead them and I can't let them down, got that?!"

Iruka-Sensei and Lord Hokage stared at Naruto with surprise written all over their faces. They shared a look before their eyes fell on the Akimichi girl who was grinning proudly; a sense of understanding passed between the two as they smiled at the beaming girl.

"You heard him, Lord Hokage! Naruto is really shaping up!...I'd like to think I have had a hand in that." Chouko said not trying to hide her grin. "He's not the same knuckleheaded brat, you know. He's the man who going to become the future Hokage so you better listen to what he's saying."

_'Man, I am going to get scolded for this later.'_ Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Okay then, fine."

Their eyes widened.

"If you desire it so badly then I will give you a C-Rank mission." Lord Hokage said. "It will be a combination of an escort and protection mission."

Naruto gasped and sprang to his feet.

"Who? Who?! A Feudal Lord?! A princess?! Who-who-whoooo?! Come on, tell us already, old man!"

Chouko tugged on the back of Naruto's jacket with a heavy sigh. "Naruto, down, boy." She laughs, watching the blond-haired boy practically vibrate on the spot.

She laughed at his pouting face and patted his head affectionately.

"Don't be so impatient Naruto. I will bring him in now. Behave yourselves." The Hokage's aged eyes landed on Naruto and Chouko with a warning. Naruto pouted and Chouko shyly averted her eyes feeling rather silly about her earlier outbursts. "Send in our visitor!" The Hokage yelled to the shinobi standing outside his office.

They all turned to face the door anxiously waiting as loud footsteps drew closer. The footsteps sounded off to Chouko and a dreadful feeling overwhelmed her. They were heavy and clunky as if the person was stumbling around trying to catch their footing. Her feeling of dread only grew as the door slammed open and an older gentleman stumbled in, clutching a bronze bottle as if his very life depended on it.

Not a Feudal Lord.

Not a princess.

_A drunk._

The man glared at them with his flushed face and hazed over eyes. "Huh? What the hell is this? These are just a bunch of snot-nosed little brats!" The man rumbled angrily looking them over and taking a large swig of his booze. Alcohol poured out of his lips and onto the floor around him.

Chouko gagged at the putrid smell and hid her nose in the back of Naruto's jacket.

"He's drunk!" Chouko scowled.

The bastard smelled as if he bathed in it! Even her father never smelt this strongly after a night of drinking with his friends, usually after the return of a successful mission.

The man sloppily wiped his mouth and pointed at Naruto. "Especially you, the runt, with the stupid-looking face." He lazily dropped his arm and leaned against the open doorframe. "You expect me to believe that you're really a ninja?

"Haha! Who's the short one?!"

Naruto asked aloud wondering who the short one was. With mischievous smiles on their faces they all stepped closer to him with Sasuke being the tallest followed by Sakura, and then Chouko.

It took Naruto a minute to figure it out.

"Sensei, you might want to restrain him," Chouko said tapping a finger against her chin.

_"I'LL KILL HIM!" _

Her Sensei sighed as his Naruto senses tingled, prompting him to reach out and restrain the Uzumaki boy before he could go full-on feral on the man they were to be escorting.

"What's the point in killing the person you're supposed to be protecting? Idiot!" Kakashi sighed. "Did you not hear Lord Hokage? Behave."

"Remember what I told you, Naruto." Chouko sighed crossing her arms. "People like him aren't worth it."

The old man had more fight left in him as he set his sights on Chouko.

"And you - _butterball!_ \- am I supposed to believe that you're capable of protecting anything other than your portion of food at dinner?!"

Her teammates choked on laughter, minus Naruto, who was still trying to mangle him. Kakashi's eyebrow twitched and sweat dripped down his face as he eyed the cherry-red Akimichi girl out of the corner of his eye. She was shaking and grinding her teeth and Kakashi was sure she was going to strike when she took a calm breath and eased herself away from the drunken man.

"My weight has nothing to do with my capabilities as a ninja. However, as a word of warning, you probably should watch your tongue around the ones supposed to be guarding you. Accidents happen, you know."

The Akimichi girl crossed her arms and turned her head.

The drunken man fumbled on some kind of retort but let it die in his throat.

"Cocky brat." He drunkenly grumbled.

Kakashi exhaled and placed his hand on top of Chouko's head. He gave her affectionate ruffle and praised her for controlling emotions, and was even going to express that he was proud of her until she decided to blow a big, fat, raspberry in his face.

Kakashi wondered if it was too late to send her back to the academy.

"I am Tazuna, a veteran bridge builder. I expect you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge; even if that means giving your life." The drunk - _Tazuna_ \- slurred.

Something felt very off about this man, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Chouko didn't like him one bit.

* * *

Chouko stared up at the large set of Kohona gates with a fond smile on her face. She had never stepped foot outside of the village, but she had come to the gate many times before with her mom and brother to see her dad off on a mission, and then to greet him on the days of his return. She had even stopped by to see Asuma and Kurenai off when she knew they were leaving. It felt different now, knowing she was the one going to be walking through the gates this time.

She wondered if her mother and brother would greet her when she returned home like they did her father.

It brought her a sense of nostalgia and a budding sense of homesickness, despite the fact they had yet left the village.

She was a ninja herself and was officially taking her first steps out into a dangerous world where few ever returned.

At least it was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky. Somewhere, she bet Shikamaru was gazing up at the sky with a lazy smile on his face as Chouji crunched on his favorite barbeque chips while Ino badgered them about things that didn't matter.

Chouko thought after all was said and done that she'd visit them and see how they have been doing.

"Alright! We're off! Come on, let's go!" Naruto cheered taking the lead of the group with Chouko right behind him, matching his pace comfortably.

"What are you getting so excited about?" Sakura asked.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village!" Naruto grinned taking in all the sights. "I'm a real traveler now!'

Chouko covered her snort with a giggle. Naruto was such an adorable dork at times.

"Hey!" Tazuna yelled. "Am I really going to be okay with this squirt?!" He directed his attention towards Naruto.

"The only joke here is you." Chouko deadpanned.

"Chouko!" Sakura reprimanded with a firm glare.

"Hahaha! Well, I am a jonin. There's no need to worry." Kakashi said. "I'll be watching over them."

Chouko sensing Naruto was about to snap gave him a playful push forward with a knowing smirk. He looked back at her with a pout but she only hummed, wagging her finger and shaking her head.

Naruto gave a short huff before a smirk curled over his lips.

"Hey, old man!" He called over their shoulders.

Chouko sighed.

"Don't go around mocking us, got that? I'm a super-elite ninja who is one day going to be called Hokage by the people of my village! Remember my name: Uzumaki Naruto!"

"The Hokage's the super top-dog ninja in the village, right?" Tazuna snorted inhaling down more of his booze. "I sure as hell doubt someone like as puny as you could become Hokage. The lot of you aren't worth much more than a headache. You'll just end up dead and becoming someone's burden."

Sakura's shoulders slumped glumly while Sasuke glared coldly at Tazuna.

"I find that ironic coming from you." Chouko snapped. "You don't know Naruto. You don't know Sakura, Sasuke, or Kakashi-Sensei, and you sure as hell don't know me! The only thing you know about us if that we're supposed to protecting your lousy ass, so you can get back to your precious little bridge. Don't go slandering our names around when you have none of the facts. We're going to do whatever it takes to accomplish our dreams, and then the pitiful likes of you will have but no choice to acknowledge us!"

Tazuna and Chouko stared at one another intensely. The whole time he hadn't taken a sip of beer.

"The day I acknowledge any of you is the day I sprout wings and fly, butterball." The older man grunted and turned his head to her.

"The wings of metamorphosis take time to grow and change, but those who aren't willing to put in the effort will never know that feeling. I think that's something my mom would tell me at this moment. She always says weird things like that, but they somehow make sense." Chouko smiled despite the tension in the air. "Your wings never grew because you refused to grow. You refused to change. You condemn the world around you and wait for other people to bring that change to you. In the end, you're left on the ground watching as everyone else soars above you."

Tazuna's jaw dropped in disbelief. Who the hell did this brat think she was to sprout such nonsense to him?!

Kakashi groaned and did something none of them expected...

He picked Chouko up and threw her over his shoulder with a grunt. The rotund girl shrieked and pounded on his back, absolutely red in the face, embarrassed, and amazed, and at the same time. She really shouldn't have been so surprised that Kakashi could lift her, considering how strong he was, but it didn't make the situation any less humiliating.

"Have you lost your mind, Kakashi-sensei?! You're going to hurt yourself!" Sakura yelled. "She's not exactly made of feathers!"

"Shut it, forehead!" Chouko scowled. "What's the big idea, Sensei?!"

"Hey! Get your hands off of Chouko, pervert!" Naruto yelled in her defense. "She's way too young for you, you creepy old geezer!"

The blood poured to Chouko's face as she let out an ungodly squeal.

Kakashi sweatdropped, and smacked his face with his free hand.

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"That's enough of you." Kakashi-Sensei hummed marching forward. "Come on along, little ones!" Kakashi sang as if speaking to a group of younglings.

He adjusted Chouko on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and move forward. Naruto opened his mouth about to protest when Kakashi shot him a warning glare.

"You'll be next if you don't behave."

The blond clammed up and apologetically looked away from his friend who had all but given up on life.

"I hope you break your back." She hissed giving into fate.

"Hm, did I hear something?" Kakashi hummed.

Chouko groaned.

"I'm sorry, okay? Can you put me down now, please? I get it. Lesson learned. I won't smart mouth the drunk...for now, at least."

Kakashi hummed for a minute before unceremoniously dumping her onto the ground. She landed with a loud thump on the ground that left her momentarily stunned. Only when she came to her senses did she notice her group slowly moving away from her with a very amused Tazuna shooting her a nasty smirk.

Chouko scowled under her breath and raced to catch up with them.

* * *

Chouko sighed looking up at the cloudy blue sky with fondness while keeping an eye on her surroundings. She could hear bits and pieces of a conversation that Sakura was having with Tazuna that she didn't care much about, that is until she heard Kakashi interject himself.

"No, there aren't ninja in the Land of Waves," Kakashi-Sensei spoke. "But in other countries, there are hidden villages that each have their different customs and cultures where ninja reside." Kakashi-Sensei paused to see if they were still with him. "To the many countries of the continent, the existence of a shinobi village means military power. In other words, that is how these nations maintained their relationships with neighboring nations. Even so, the villages are not under the control of the nations. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government, they're independent and have equal stats. Now a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for any ninja village.

Kakashi tapped his chin thoughtfully knowing he had all their attention of him.

"The Land of Fire has the Hidden Leaf Village, while the land of water has the hidden Mist Village; Land of Lightning, the village hidden in the clouds. The Land of Wind, the village hidden in the Sand and the land of Earth, the village hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name Kage, which means shadow. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tschuikage; these are the leaders, the shadows that rain over thousands of ninja."

"No kidding!" Sakura laughed. "The Hokage is that powerful?!" '

_That lame geezer is really that powerful? Sounds fishy!'_ Sakura's inner voice thought.

Naruto snickered remembering the time he pulled his Sexy Jutsu on the Hokage and how he fainted from blood loss!

Sasuke and Chouko were silent.

"Hey!" Kakashi yelled. "Are the four of you doubting the Hokage?"

They all froze and shook their heads.

"Well, don't worry." Kakashi-Sensei patted Chouko and Sakura's heads. "There won't be any ninja combat in a C-Rank battle.

"Then, there's no worry getting into a scrape with foreign ninja!" Sakura breathed in relief.

"Of course not!" Kakashi chirped.

Chouko wasn't sure how she felt.

Chouko eyed Tazuna wearily out of the corner of her eye. He was fidgeting with his half-full bottle of booze, squirming under the eyes of anyone who watched him for too long. His eyes were shifty, too. Sakura continued to make small talk but Tazuna's answers were very vague and he didn't go into much detail or specifics. Anything of notable importance he went out his way to avoid answering by taking a drink and grumbling on about nosy kids, which was enough to deter Sakura and for her to move on to her next string of questions.

Eventually, Tazuna reverted to non-verbal communication. He would shrug every now and again or let out a grunt but it was clear that he had no more interest in talking to which Sakura seemed to take the hint.

Was he sweating? Or was it from all the booze he drank? Either way, he wreaked of suspicion...

Chouko moved to walked beside Kakashi-Sensei. She gently bumped into his shoulder and with his attention, on her, she moved her fingers into patterns unlike hand signs made for jutsu, rather these hand signs were used for silent communication between allies.

_'He's very suspicious.' _Chouko said without the use of words.

Kakashi Sensei nodded in silent agreement and gave her a gentle pat on the back, as they moved forward with added caution.

Chouko was beginning to think this mission wouldn't be so simple after all.


	4. Update: Lost Everything

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates, uh a little update here...my computer died and had to be repaired, but not without cost because I lost everything. Year's and year's of work gone. I'm so depressed but there's nothing that can be done. I'm so heartbroken because I had so many important things on there.

I goes without saying that I'm going to have to start from scratch with my stories. Everything I had saved about my characters is gone.

I'm trying to find some kind of positive but I honestly want to cry lmao.


	5. Pairing Poll

So it's been a while again I know. If you read my last update you know my computer had to get fixed and that I lost all my documents and stories and, well, that really made me not want to write. Years of work gone in the blink of an eye really bring ones motivation down. I didn't even want to touch my stories or look at them knowing that all my hard work had been lost.

However, very slowly, I've been able to get back into the groove and recreate what I lost, but not completely. Primarily I've been focusing more on my Naruto story since it seems to be the once you all like the most. Chouko wasn't very fleshed out before so this is a good time to really flesh out her character and shape her into the character I want her to be, and while I have a basic idea of the story and her character there is one thing I can't decide on...

Pairing.

Now, originally Chouko is/was shipped with Shikamaru who I love dearly, but then I started thinking about her being paired with Naruto the more I would write the story and now I'm on the fence, therefore I'm going to let you all make the decision for me.

I've put a poll so please go vote. I really want all of your input on choices like this in the story since you're the ones reading it.

Please vote and let me know, thank you :


	6. Thank you for the votes!

I've heard you all loud and clear and the love for Shikamaru in this story is very real lol. Maybe I'll write a separate story for Naruto one day because come on, we have to show some love for our knucklehead ninja.

Alright the pairing has been settled so I can get onto reworking Chouko and getting this story back up. My question now to you is what do you want to see in the story? What do you want to see from Chouko? Be sure to let me know your thought and ideas and thank you for all your votes on the pairing!

I appreciate it a whole lot!


End file.
